Jeremy Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn
Official portrait, 2020
Leader of the Opposition
In office
12 September 2015 – 4 April 2020
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime Minister
Preceded byHarriet Harman
Succeeded byKeir Starmer
Leader of the Labour Party
In office
12 September 2015 – 4 April 2020
DeputyTom Watson
Preceded byEd Miliband
Succeeded byKeir Starmer
Member of Parliament
for Islington North
In office
9 June 1983 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byMichael O'Halloran
Succeeded byTBC
Chair of the Stop the War Coalition
In office
14 June 2011 – 12 September 2015
PresidentTony Benn
Vice PresidentLindsey German
DeputyChris Nineham
Preceded byAndrew Murray
Succeeded byAndrew Murray
Personal details
Born
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn

(1949-05-26) 26 May 1949 (age 75)
Chippenham, Wiltshire, England
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations
Labour (1965–2024)
Spouses
  • (m. 1974; div. 1979)
  • Claudia Bracchitta
    (m. 1987; div. 1999)
  • Laura Álvarez
    (m. 2012)
Children3 sons
RelativesPiers Corbyn (brother)
Residence(s)Finsbury Park, London
Education
Alma materNorth London Polytechnic (did not graduate)
Signature
WebsiteOfficial website
a.^ Membership suspended: 29 October 2020 – 17 November 2020; whip suspended since 29 October 2020

Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (/ˈkɔːrbɪn/; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who was Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North from 1983 to 2024. He identifies ideologically as a socialist on the political left.[1][2] An independent, Corbyn was a member of the Labour Party from 1965 until his expulsion in 2024.

Born in Chippenham, Wiltshire, Corbyn joined the Labour Party as a teenager. Moving to London, he became a trade union representative. In 1974, he was elected to Haringey Council and became Secretary of Hornsey Constituency Labour Party until elected as the MP for Islington North in 1983. His activism has included Anti-Fascist Action, the Anti-Apartheid Movement, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and advocating for a united Ireland and Palestinian statehood. As a backbencher, Corbyn routinely voted against the Labour whip, including New Labour governments. A vocal opponent of the Iraq War, he chaired the Stop the War Coalition from 2011 to 2015, and received the Gandhi International Peace Award and Seán MacBride Peace Prize. Following Ed Miliband's resignation after the party had lost the 2015 general election, Corbyn won the 2015 party leadership election to succeed him. Its membership increased sharply, both during the leadership campaign and following his election.[3]

Taking the party to the left, Corbyn advocated renationalising public utilities and railways, a less interventionist military policy, and reversals of austerity cuts to welfare and public services. Although he had sometimes been critical of the European Union (EU), he supported the Remain campaign in the 2016 EU membership referendum. After Labour MPs sought to remove him in 2016 through a leadership challenge, he won a second leadership contest against Owen Smith. In the 2017 general election, Labour increased its share of the vote to 40 per cent, with its 10 per cent rise their largest since the 1945 general election. During his tenure as leader, Corbyn was criticised for the antisemitism within the party. He condemned antisemitism[4] and apologised for its presence,[5] while his leadership saw a strengthening of disciplinary procedures regarding hate speech and racism.[6] In 2019, after deadlock in Parliament over Brexit, Corbyn endorsed holding a referendum on the withdrawal agreement, with a personal stance of neutrality. In the 2019 general election, Labour's vote share fell to 32 per cent, leading to a loss of 60 seats, leaving it with 202, its fewest since the 1935 general election. Corbyn resigned, triggering a leadership election in 2020, which was won by Keir Starmer. After asserting that the scale of antisemitism had been overstated for political reasons, Corbyn was suspended from the party in 2020. In May 2024, after the 2024 general election had been called, Corbyn announced he would stand as an independent candidate for Islington North; he was subsequently expelled from Labour.[7]

  1. ^ Calamur, Krishnadev (18 August 2015). "How a Socialist Prime Minister Might Govern Britain". The Atlantic. ISSN 2151-9463. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  2. ^ Settle, Michael (18 August 2015). "Corbyn: I'm a Socialist not a Unionist". The Herald. Archived from the original on 4 March 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  3. ^ Piggott, Mark (8 October 2015). "Jeremy Corbyn: Membership of Labour party has doubled since 2015 general election". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 5 December 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  4. ^ "Corbyn decries anti-Semitism as 'vile and wrong' following chief rabbi's rebuke". The Times of Israel. Jerusalem. 26 November 2019. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  5. ^ MEE staff. "BBC issues correction after saying Corbyn refused to apologise on antisemitism". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  6. ^ Elgot, Jessica (26 September 2017). "Labour to adopt new antisemitism rules after conference row". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  7. ^ Brown, Faye (24 May 2024). "General election: Jeremy Corbyn confirms he will stand as independent in Islington North". Sky News. Archived from the original on 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.

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