Amid the pre-lunch clatter of pans at Islington’s Nag’s Head market, Danni Cane didn’t hesitate when asked if she still would be supporting Jeremy Corbyn hours after the local MP finally made it known he would be seeking re-election as an independent.
“Of course we’ll be voting for Jeremy. He’s the person who made it possible for my mum to get her own house. He’s loved around here,” said Cane, owner of the Avva Cuppa cafe and an example of the sort of deep personal connection with many voters that Corbyn has built up over the course of 40 years of representing the north London constituency.
Islington North is a bedrock of support that could yet make Corbyn unbeatable for the Labour party, not least when his track record on other fronts – such as Palestine – is also finding a particular local resonance.
The conflict in Gaza was among factors cited by a group of men gathered at Majid Akguche’s Tagine 2 Go stall, who spoke of Corbyn in heroic terms.
“He has come here many, many times and is a man who listens to the people, whether it’s housing or emigration,” said the stall owner, who identified, like the others, as a Labour supporter, but planned to put loyalty to Corbyn first.
“He comes to our mosque after prayers and makes speeches, makes himself known and just opens himself up to what the people need.”
Earlier, Corbyn told the local Islington Tribune newspaper that he would fight to retain the seat and appealed to lifelong Labour voters.
The MP was suspended from the parliamentary Labour party (PLP) in 2020 when he suggested opponents had “dramatically overstated” the scale of the problem concerning the party’s handling of antisemitism complaints.
Yet even at Nag’s Head market – a fixture of life in the area since 1975 but also a place where some businesses complained of feeling left behind by local changes – there was also evidence of scepticism about Corbyn’s enduring appeal.
“He comes here for his eggs and used to get his underwear down the aisle there, so he’s well known. I like a lot of the things he wanted to do when he was leader of the Labour party, but I was never sure how he was going to deliver them,” said John Bull, owner of a stall selling cards and birthday merchandise, and a business presence for almost as long as Corbyn has been an MP.
“There are a few things I wouldn’t be sure about – some of the organisations he’s been involved with over the years are ones I wouldn’t want anything to do with.”
Next door, Sharon Jennys confessed to feeling “a bit on the fence” about whether she would vote for Corbyn – despite describing him as popular and personable, and a repeat customer who had come to buy duck eggs from her.
“I’m a bit of a swing voter. In the past I’ve supported different people and I think this time it’ll be for who can really make a change. Housing is a big, big issue here,” she said.
Elsewhere in the constituency, the factors that dogged Corbyn as leader of the Labour party were more evident.
On a park bench with her new baby in a leafy district close to the border with Keir Starmer’s constituency of Holborn and St Pancras, Sarah Wilson, a charity worker, said she was “saddened” that Corbyn had chosen not to leave the political stage and expressed concern about the potential divisions that could open up.
“I’m Jewish, and so that period when he was leader of Labour was a difficult one. I don’t view him as antisemitic, but I think he was reckless when it came to the real concerns about what was being said.
“I’m saddened he is standing again and my fear is that the election locally will see other issues that are not relevant to the area becoming part of the debate. It makes it harder for the Labour party to win here, and while there’s not a sort of 1996 feeling, I do think they will still win here.”
Leaving his house nearby, Tim Kirkup, a funeral celebrant, said he had been glad when Labour’s leadership changed, even if Corbyn had been a decent local MP.
“For me, the sort of issues that are more important are ones that people refer to as ‘broken Britain’ and I understand why Labour has chosen someone like Starmer, someone who is not going to frighten voters with the kind of rhetoric that lost elections in the past.”
