Jeremy Corbyn could run AGAINST Labour in Islington North at the next election after being stripped of whip by Keir Starmer over anti-Semitism – with former party leader, 73, saying ‘I will retire when I die’
- Leftwinger booted out of the Parliamentary Labour Party in October 2020
- Remains independent MP for Islington North and coy about next election plan
- Keir Starmer has already effectively ruled out him running for Labour
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has strongly hinted he could run against his old party at the next election, telling friends ‘I will retire when I die’.
The 73-year-old leftwinger was booted out of the Parliamentary Labour Party more than two years ago for comments he made about an investigation into anti-Semitism during his time in charge.
But he remains the independent MP for Islington North, the London seat he has represented for four decades, and has been coy about whether he would stand again.
Mr Corbyn is likely to be 75 by the time the next election takes place in 2024 or 2025, and if he wins he could serve until he is 80.
According to the i paper, he recently told locals in his constituency he has no plan to retire.
This week Mr Corbyn has been joined by serving Labour backbenchers at rallies supporting massive co-ordinated public sector strikes that have brought much of the country to a halt.
He joined RMT kingpin Mick Lynch in central London, along with allies John McDonnell, Sam Tarry and Rebecca Long-Bailey, despite Keir Starmer’s warning that no MP should be on a picket line ‘if they want to be in government’.
Sir Keir Starmer has already effectively closed the door on predecessor Jeremy Corbyn standing as a Labour candidate at the next election.
If he was to run again it could cause a headache for Labour and his successor Sir Keir Starmer in a seat he won for the party with a 26,188 majority in 2019.
Though some senior party figures believe that a candidate who ran against him could win.
This week Mr Corbyn has been joined by serving Labour backbenchers at rallies supporting massive co-ordinated public sector strikes that have brought much of the country to a halt.
He joined RMT kingpin Mick Lynch in central London, along with allies John McDonnell, Sam Tarry and Rebecca Long-Bailey, despite Sir Keir’s warning that no MP should be on a picket line ‘if they want to be in government’.
The party leader has already effectively closed the door on his predecessor standing as a Labour candidate at the next election.
While Mr Corbyn remains a Labour Party member he sits as an independent MP because he refuses to apologises for his response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) investigation into anti-Semitism.
Asked about the situation in December, Sir Keir told BBC Radio 4’s Today: ‘I don’t see the circumstances in which he will stand at the next election as a Labour MP.’
Mr Corbyn had the whip removed and was suspended by Labour in the aftermath of the highly critical EHRC report in 2020.
He had his party membership reinstated within weeks, but Sir Keir refused to readmit him to the group of Labour MPs.
In his initial response to the EHRC report, Mr Corbyn claimed the scale of anti-Semitism in the party had been ‘dramatically overstated for political reasons’ by opponents both inside and outside Labour, along with the media.
But he later attempted to clarify his comments in a statement to the party, saying concerns about antisemitism are ‘neither ‘exaggerated’ nor ‘overstated’.
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