By Sam Sorabjee
Sir Keir Starmer’s motion to block Jeremy Corbyn from standing as a Labour MP in North Islington has approved by Labour’s National Executive Committee today. A party spokesperson said the motion passed by 22 votes to 12.
Under the committee rules, there is no appeal process for Corbyn, and therefore he will not be standing as a Labour candidate in the 2024 general election.
It is not known yet whether Corbyn will run as an independent in the next general election. If this happens, he will be liable to have his party membership terminated.
Christine Davison, 58, a resident in North Islington, said: “I think this area will always vote Labour, it doesn’t matter if it’s Corbyn or someone else running.”
Accusations of antisemitism
The 73-year-old has been North Islington’s MP for the past 40 years, having won re-election 10 times since 1983 and led the party between 2015-2020. He currently sits as an independent for the constituency, having been suspended by the party after accusations of antisemitism.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Corbyn said he is “not going anywhere”, and claimed the Labour Leader, Sir Keir Starmer, “has broken his commitment to respect the rights of Labour members and denigrated the democratic foundations of our party”.
Corbyn was suspended as a Labour MP in 2020 by Starmer after his response to an Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) investigation into antisemitism within the Labour Party. Corbyn rejected their overall conclusions, saying the report was “dramatically overstated for political reasons” by opponents and the media.
Sir Keir Starmer Suspended Corbyn and in December 2020, implemented a new plan for handling anti-semitism in the party.
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