Jeremy Corbyn

The Right Honourable Jeremy Corbyn MP
Official portrait, 2020
Leader of the Opposition
In office 12 September 2015 – 4 April 2020
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	David Cameron Theresa May Boris Johnson
Preceded by	Harriet Harman
Succeeded by	Keir Starmer
Leader of the Labour Party
In office 12 September 2015 – 4 April 2020
Deputy	Tom Watson
General Secretary	Iain McNicol Jennie Formby
Chairman	Tom Watson Ian Lavery
Preceded by	Ed Miliband
Succeeded by	Keir Starmer
Member of Parliament for Islington North
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 June 1983
Preceded by	Michael O'Halloran
Majority	26,188 (48.7%)
Chair of the Stop the War Coalition
In office 14 June 2011 – 12 September 2015
President	Tony Benn
Vice President	Lindsey German
Deputy	Chris Nineham
Preceded by	Andrew Murray
Succeeded by	Andrew Murray
Personal details
Born	Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (1949-05-26) 26 May 1949 (age 74) Chippenham, Wiltshire, England
Political party	Labour (1965–present)a
Spouses	Jane Chapman ​ ​ (m. 1974; div. 1979)​ Claudia Bracchitta ​ ​ (m. 1987; div. 1999)​ Laura Álvarez ​ (m. 2012)​
Children	3 sons
Relatives	Piers Corbyn (brother)
Residence(s)	Finsbury Park, London
Education	Castle House School Adams' Grammar School
Alma mater	North London Polytechnic (did not graduate)
Signature
Website	Official website
Jeremy Corbyn's voice Corbyn on proportional representation (PR) Recorded 7 September 2022
a.^ Membership suspended: 29 October 2020 – 17 November 2020; whip suspended since 29 October 2020

This article is part of a series about Jeremy Corbyn
Political positions Democratic socialism Nationalisation Electoral history MP for Islington North CND AAM StWC Backbencher 1983 election Socialist Campaign Group Leader of the Opposition and Labour Party Leadership 2015 election campaign Shadow Cabinet 2016 mass resignation 2016 re-election Antisemitism in the UK Labour Party Corbynmania Economic Advisory Committee Elections Local elections 2016 2017 2018 2019 General elections 2017 2019 2019 European elections Cultural depictions Corbyn: The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics Comrade Corbyn: A Very Unlikely Coup Oh Jeremy Corbyn: the big lie Jeremy Corbyn: Accidental Hero Dangerous Hero Personal life Honours and awards
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Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (/ˈkɔːrbɪn/; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist.^[1][2] He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North since 1983.^[3] As of October 2020, Corbyn sits in the House of Commons as an independent, following the suspension of the whip.

Born in Chippenham, Wiltshire, and raised in Wiltshire and Shropshire, 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 being elected as the MP for Islington North in 1983; he has been reelected to the office nine times. His activism has included roles in Anti-Fascist Action, the Anti-Apartheid Movement, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and advocating for a united Ireland and Palestinian statehood. As a backbench MP, Corbyn routinely voted against the Labour whip, including New Labour governments under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. A vocal opponent of the Iraq War, he chaired the Stop the War Coalition from 2011 to 2015, a period when he received the Gandhi International Peace Award; he also won the Seán MacBride Peace Prize in 2017. Analyses of domestic media coverage of Corbyn have found it to be critical or antagonistic.^[4][5]

Corbyn was elected Leader of the Labour Party in 2015. The party's membership increased sharply, both during the leadership campaign and following his election.^[6] Taking the party to the left, he advocated renationalising public utilities and railways, a less interventionist military policy, and reversals of austerity cuts to welfare and public services. Although critical of the European Union, he supported continued membership in the 2016 referendum. After Labour MPs sought to remove him in 2016 through a formal leadership challenge, he won a second leadership contest. In the 2017 general election, Labour increased its share of the vote to 40%, with its 9.6% vote rise their largest improvement since the 1945 general election. This resulted in a net gain of 30 seats and a hung parliament; but the Conservative Prime Minister, Theresa May, formed a minority government and Labour remained in Opposition. 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%, leading to a net loss of 60 seats and leaving it with 202, its fewest since 1935. Corbyn said he would not lead Labour into the next election, triggering a leadership election in 2020 that was won by Keir Starmer, his Shadow Brexit Secretary.

During his tenure as leader, Corbyn came under criticism in relation to antisemitism within the Labour Party. Corbyn has condemned antisemitism^[7] and apologised for its presence within the party,^[8] while his leadership oversaw changes to strengthen party disciplinary procedures regarding hate speech and racism as recommended by the 2016 Chakrabarti Inquiry.^[9] An internal 2020 report and the subsequent 2022 Forde Report noted that Corbyn's team inherited a dysfunctional disciplinary system which eventually improved under General Secretary Jennie Formby, and stated that antisemitism was used as a factional weapon by both opponents and supporters of Corbyn within the party. A 2020 Equality and Human Rights Commission inquiry into the matter found the party under his leadership was responsible for unlawful acts of discrimination and harassment.^[10][11] After asserting that the scale of antisemitism within the party had been overstated for political reasons, Corbyn was suspended from Labour Party membership in October 2020. The membership suspension was lifted a month later after a formal disciplinary warning, but the Labour leadership declined to restore the whip, denying readmission to the parliamentary party.

In 2022, Al Jazeera's analysis of leaked documents^[12] from the Labour Party alleges that senior Labour officials attempted to undermine support for Corbyn and, on some occasions, to silence debate about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.^[13] In March 2023, Labour's national executive committee resolved not to endorse Corbyn standing as a candidate in the next general election.^[14]