Is Jeremy Corbyn about to lose his seat? Expelled former Labour leader, 75, fears race in Islington North seat he has held since 1983 is 'neck and neck' - as successor Keir Starmer continues to taunt him with 'party of protest' jibe
Jeremy Corbyn is facing a hard fight to hold onto his Commons seat in the face of a powerful effort by Labour to unseat its former leader.
Allies of the 75-year-old hard Left icon fears the race for Islington North, the seat he has held since 1983, is 'neck and neck'.
Mr Corbyn is running as an independent in the north London constituency after being blocked from representing Labour for failing to apologise for comments about anti-Semitism.
If he was to lose to Labour challenger Praful Nargund it would strike a blow to the party's remaining left faction and strengthen successor Keir Starmer's hand yet further.
Sir Keir continued his efforts to kick the Corbyn years into touch today, after being heckled by a climate protester at the launch of the Labour election manifesto.
Sir Keir, who is no stranger to being interrupted by protesters, told the activist from Green New Deal Rising that Labour 'gave up on being a party of protest five years ago, we want to be a party in power'.
It was a snark aimed at Mr Corbyn's reign, which ended after the party's 2019 election disaster.
The 75-year-old hard Left icon fears the race for Islington North, the seat he has held since 1983, is 'neck and neck'.
Sir Keir continued his efforts to kick the Corbyn years into touch today, after being heckled by a climate protester at the launch of the Labour election manifesto.
The i newspaper reported that Corbyn campaign sources believe it is a two-horse race between Mr Corbyn and Cllr Nargund.
One told the newspaper: 'According to our data and projections, if enough supporters of Jeremy and his politics join the campaign and knock on doors, we will win.
'But there is a real risk of the Labour candidate sneaking a victory if supporters stay at home on the assumption that Jeremy can win without them.
'While we've had good numbers so far, we need more volunteer power to compete with Labour's resources.'
Mr Corbyn had remained a Labour Party member, despite being kicked out of the parliamentary party in late 2020 over comments he made about a probe into anti-Semitism under his leadership.
This meant that technically he could still be picked as a party candidate. But Sir Keir Starmer blocked his attempts to be chosen until he apologised for what he said.
Instead Mr Corbyn announced last month that he would stand as an independent, a move that saw him automatically expelled from Labour.
He had a majority of 26,188 at the 2019 election when running as a Labour candidate and becomes the first former leader to run against the party since Ramsay MacDonald in 1931.
He has unveiled a left-wing manifesto which includes banning all nuclear weapons, the introduction of universal basic income and a wealth tax, and reparations to countries that were former British imperial territories.
Mr Corbyn today hit back at Sir Keir's claim that he did not think Labour would win the 2019 general election.
In an interview with Beth Rigby on Sky on Wednesday, Sir Keir was questioned over his support for his predecessor in 2019 and his subsequent attempts to distance the party from Mr Corbyn.
Sir Keir said he was 'certain' Labour would lose the election but made 'no apology' for backing Mr Corbyn at the time.
It comes after Sir Keir said the Conservatives have built a 'Jeremy Corbyn-style manifesto' that will 'load everything into the wheelbarrow' without explaining how to pay for it.
Speaking to the PA news agency, Mr Corbyn accused Sir Keir of 'double standards'.
He said: 'Well, he never said that to me, at any time. And so I just think rewriting history is no help.'
Mr Corbyn added: 'It shows double standards, shall we say, that he now says he always thought that, but he never said it at the time, or anything about it.
'He was part of the campaign. He and I spoke together at events and I find it actually quite sad.
'Get over it and get on with it. He was in the shadow cabinet, he was at the Clause 5 meeting. Both those meetings unanimously agreed the 2019 manifesto, and he was there.'
