It’s Corbyn’s last stand. But can he beat Labour’s

By running as an independent, the Islington North MP will give constituents a chance to rebel against the Westminster consensus

For supposedly one of the biggest losers in Labour’s history, Jeremy Corbyn has certainly won a lot of elections. Two leadership contests by huge margins, and 10 consecutive victories in his parliamentary constituency, Islington North. Since first being elected there 41 years ago, he has increased his majority from a modest 5,607 to a formidable 26,188.

So his announcement that he is running as an independent in the general election, a plan that he has hinted at for months, has a degree of confidence behind it. In the bustling, congested streets of his traditionally left-leaning constituency, seemingly everyone knows “Jeremy”, and the famously conscientious MP knows them. “He may have the highest constituency name recognition of any MP in the country,” a local Labour councillor told me.

Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist. His book on Corbyn, Abbott and the Labour left, The Searchers: Five Rebels, Their Dream of a Different Britain, and Their Many Enemies, is out now

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