11 Islington North CLP officers quit to campaign for Jeremy Corbyn

Eleven executive committee members of Islington North’s Constituency Labour Party have publicly vowed to support former MP Jeremy Corbyn’s independent campaign, either quitting or risking expulsion from the party.

After the recent departure of CLP chair Alison McGarry, now a string of further CLP executive members have announced they will quit and support a rival to Labour’s new candidate Praful Nargund, a local councillor.

A total of 72 members including them signed an open letter on Friday calling on voters in the constituency to back the former Labour leader, who is now standing as an independent.

Among those signing the letter were a reported 11 former CLP officers – which is understood to be a majority of CLP officers – with the statement claiming local members had been “denied the right” to choose their candidate.

The letter reads: “Jeremy Corbyn has dedicated his life to this constituency. We hear on a regular basis from people how Jeremy has been there for them in their time of need, whether that is housing, education or anything else.

“He has always worked in partnership with our progressive Labour Council, both as a Labour MP and as an Independent MP.”

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Jeremy Corbyn was expelled from the Labour Party after announcing his intention to stand in Islington North as an independent against Labour.

He had lost the Labour Party whip in 2020 following his response to the EHRC report into antisemitism in the party.

Corbyn has been the MP for Islington North since 1983 and served as Labour leader between 2015 and 2020.

Nargund was picked by Labour’s national executive committee shortly after the election was called.

Nargund was not immediately available for comment.

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