Jeremy Corbyn ‘to lose his Islington North seat to former MP’ who blamed his leadership for her defeat at the last election
- Jeremy Corbyn is likely to lose Islington North seat to Labour MP Mary Creagh
- Ms Creagh blamed his political leadership for her defeat at the last election
- Mr Corbyn is said to be planning to stand as independent after party suspension
Jeremy Corbyn is likely to lose his seat to a Labour MP who blamed his leadership for her defeat at the last election.
The Islington North MP – who was suspended by the party over an anti-Semitism row – is said to be planning to stand as an independent.
Mary Creagh – a former Shadow Minister and committee chairman – is understood to be the frontrunner to become Labour’s candidate.
She angrily confronted Mr Corbyn after losing her constituency of Wakefield in 2019 when Boris Johnson won an 80-seat majority.
Jeremy Corbyn is likely to lose his seat to a Labour MP who blamed his leadership for her defeat at the last election. Pictured on October 1 at an Enough is Enough rally
Sources in Islington North say she is Labour’s choice to succeed Mr Corbyn ahead of the next General Election, which is likely to be in two years’ time. She is believed to be considering the ‘option’ of standing in the seat – one of the safest in the country – having decided against returning to her former constituency.
If former party leader Mr Corbyn fights to keep his seat even though he is likely to lose, he will receive a significant redundancy payout.
Mr Corbyn would be likely to receive some support having been the area’s MP for nearly 40 years and so would not lose his deposit.
However, a Labour candidate would be expected to take the seat.
Ms Creagh, a former Islington councillor, quit the frontbench when Mr Corbyn was elected as leader. Following her defeat in 2019, she confronted him outside Parliament.
She told the BBC: ‘I wondered why he was smiling and joking when I was in the Commons making my staff redundant before Christmas.’
She added: ‘It was his leadership and his failure to tackle antisemitism [and] bullying in our party that led to this defeat.’
Ms Creagh, a former Islington councillor, quit the frontbench when Mr Corbyn was elected as leader
She also said that she had demanded to know why she had faced the threat of deselection in her Wakefield seat even as the general election campaign was getting under way.
She later said that she ‘couldn’t understand why he was posing for photos when in my view he should be apologising’ over the election defeat and its consequences.
Since losing her seat, she has worked as a visiting professor at Cranfield University, chairs the Ethical Trading Initiative and is a consultant.
Mr Corbyn declined to comment.
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