Jeremy Corbyn and Rebecca Long-Bailey
Jeremy Corbyn and Rebecca Long-BaileyUK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via REUTERS

It is looking unlikely that former British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn will run as an independent in his Islington North constituency, which he has held for four decades, after being banned from running as a Labour candidate.

Sources told the UK Jewish News that Corbyn no longer believes he has a future as an MP. He is “increasingly unlikely” to run as an independent in Islington North, his constituency since 1983. Sources in Labour also told the news outlet that they are “confident” they would win the seat if Corbyn announced an independent candidacy.

On Tuesday, Labour said it was officially blocking Corbyn from running for the party in the next general election.

The announcement came after party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) approved a motion from Labour leader Keir Starmer to not endorse Corbyn as a candidate. The measure was approved 22 to 12, Sky News reported.

Corbyn, who served as Labour leader before Starmer, was removed as the party whip and has been sitting as an independent MP since October 2020 – when he alleged that Labour’s internal issues with antisemitism during his tenure that led to a wide ranging investigation were “dramatically overstated” by his political opponents. But he has remained a member of the party.

Corbyn was first suspended from Labour following the publication of a report compiled by the Equality and Human Rights Commission which found numerous cases where the party leadership under Corbyn underplayed, belittled or ignored complaints by Jewish members, and sometimes actively interfered to support political allies. But he was reinstated by Labour after appearing to apologize for disparaging the report.

After learning he would not be allowed to run as a member of Labour, Corbyn tweeted on Wednesday: “There is huge demand for a politics of redistribution, solidarity & hope. Those who oppose radical change are attacking our democratic rights for a simple reason: They know that when we come together, we can win.”

“We would actually have no problem if Corbyn decided to stand as an independent,” a source in Labour told the Jewish News. “For a start it would mean he is out of the party. But we are also more confident than ever we would beat him in a poll.”