Corbyn supporters moved to tears by election victory

At 3.30am in a sports hall in Islington, the old cry of “Oh, Jeremy Corbyn” echoed from the rafters.

A sobbing young woman in a volunteer T-shirt was hugged tightly by a friend, clarifying that it was “happy tears” that were flowing.

The resurrection of Mr Corbyn, who was elected for the eleventh time in Islington North – this time as an independent candidate – was complete.

Defying the polling odds that first put him as the underdog, and revised the seat to being a “toss up” at the last minute, the MP of 41 years won a resounding victory: 24,120 votes to Labour’s 16,873 on a 67.5 per cent turnout.

On the night, surrounded by campaigners, activists and political rivals who nevertheless treated him like an old friend, it was hard to see how it could have been otherwise.

After being suspended by the Labour Party and blocked from standing for them after the final straw in an anti-Semitism row, his was a campaign fought locally, relying on his long-standing community links and fervent – and occasionally evangelical – admirers.

It was a rare upset for Sir Keir Starmer in what otherwise appears to be a triumphant night for Labour.

Within minutes of his victory speech, Mr Corbyn made a passing attempt at generosity when asked about Sir Keir’s leadership.

“He will become prime minister,” he said, sounding rather lukewarm about the prospect, before describing the manifesto of his former party as “thin, to put it mildly”.

Warming up, he decried the “completely undemocratic diktat from the Labour Party” that he could no longer stand for them, and promised: “I will be there holding the government to account.”

“I will be one of those people who, if the government does good things, I will back them,” he told reporters. “If it fails... then I will be there speaking up.”

Public support

Between the songs of “Oh Jeremy Corbyn” and the photographs with admirers, the sports hall had been swept and chairs packed away before he and his family had left the count.

He and his sons posed for photographs with a keffiyeh, the black and white scarf now an emblem of the Palestinian cause.

Mr Corbyn’s victory was comprehensive, but it had not been guaranteed.

His closest rival, Labour councillor Praful Nargund, had campaigned on the party platform, with a team emphasising the benefits of being “inside the tent” of the soon-to-be winning team to bring about change.

Mr Corbyn stuck with walking the streets, with a last-minute push which saw him move from underdog, to neck-and-neck, and eventually a clear winner.

The seat has been one of the most closely watched, and tightly fought, of the 2024 campaign: previously considered a safe Labour seat, with Mr Corbyn’s loyal fanbase splitting the vote.

He was first elected in the constituency in 1983, with his eleventh successful attempt now making him one of the longest-serving MPs in the Commons.

The topic of anti-Semitism, which saw him suspended from the Labour Party and then blocked from standing for them, did not get a mention on the night.

His Labour career, lest we forget, ended after he declared the scale of anti-Semitism in the party under his leadership as “dramatically overstated for political reasons”.

Instead, there was a plea for “peace not war”, to end the “demonisation” of refugees, to campaign to end the two-child benefit policy.

“This was a grassroots campaign that isn’t going to go away,” he said.

If the world had almost forgotten the ardour of the “Oh, Jeremy Corbyn” troops, the Islington count was a sharp reminder.

Mr Corbyn arrived at Islington Tennis Club three hours ahead of the expected result, making his way amiably around the 18 tables where volunteers were counting votes.

He was greeted with handshakes and slaps on the shoulder, with one comrade wearing a Lib Dem badge wishing him a loud “good luck”.

For a man aged 75, he is surrounded by youth: his team, his fans, the Gen Z volunteers counting the ballot papers methodically before openly celebrating his win at the end of the night.

This was not the cautionary tale Sir Keir might have hoped for. Lose the whip, the lesson goes, and you can be reelected again on your own terms, with a personal mandate to be a reliable thorn in the Cabinet’s side and a rallying point for the disgruntled Left.

As the ballot papers piled up, the quietly confident Corbynites retreated to work on his victory speech. By the time the candidates gathered, Mr Corbyn was carrying a notebook and beaming with satisfaction.

He made a decent attempt at magnanimity, warmly celebrating with the Green party candidate and formally shaking the hand of Mr Nargund, who was nevertheless treated to a jeering shouted “Unlucky mate!” as his vote was announced.

Taking to the stage, Mr Corbyn told the crowd his campaign showed what “steadfastness in the face of abuse” could bring about: “What kinder, gentler and more sensible, more inclusive politics can bring about.”

“In only five weeks, from nothing, we built a campaign,” he added. “It was a positive one; it did not get into the gutter of politics.”

Mr Corbyn will now take his seat as an independent on the opposition benches, apart from old Labour comrades after 41 years but in Parliament nonetheless.

He will celebrate his victory, his team said, with an apple juice in the pub.