JEREMY CORBYN was victorious today as he retained his parliamentary seat of Islington North and vowed an alternative to inequality, poverty and war.
The former Labour leader won a whopping 24,120 votes in the constituency he led for over 40 years, beating his Labour opponent Praful Nargund by 7,247 votes.
Speaking immediately after the results were announced, Mr Corbyn said with a cracking, emotional voice: “Our campaign was a positive one, it did not get into the gutter of politics.
“Ours was a positive campaign trying to bring hope to people.
“Our campaign was utterly determined to bring a degree of unity to it. This result is a resounding message from the people of Islington North that they want something better.
“I owe my life and my learning and my abilities entirely to the people of Islington North. This victory is dedicated entirely to them.”
Mr Corbyn is among other independent pro-Palestine candidates to whom Labour lost seats over its stance on Gaza, including frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth.
Sir Keir’s Labour, despite its landslide victory, received fewer votes than the party under Mr Corbyn in the 2017 and 2019 elections.
Mr Corbyn later posted a statement on social media saying the community had “made history.”
He said: “This election was never about me. It has always been about our community and the values we share.
“And it’s about our undying belief that there is an alternative to inequality, poverty and war.
“Tonight’s result in Islington North gives us a glimpse of a different future, which puts the interests of the many ahead of those of the few.
“It is also a warning to the incoming government that dissent cannot be crushed without consequences.
“That ideas of equality, justice and peace are eternal. That hope for a better world can never be extinguished.”
Mr Corbyn said that the energy unleashed by the movement in Islington North will not go to waste.
“Tonight, we celebrate. Tomorrow, we organise,” he said.
“The future we speak of is no pipedream — our community is proof that a kinder, fairer world is possible.”
Congratulations from trade unionists, politicians and campaigners flooded in online.
We Own It posted on X that Mr Corbyn’s win against “a candidate who profits from private health” — referring to Mr Nargund — was a “big voice for public ownership in Parliament.”
