Corbyn began his career as a representative for various trade unions. His political career began when he was elected to Haringey Council in 1974; he later became Secretary of HornseyConstituency Labour Party, and continued in both roles until elected MP for Islington North. As a backbench MP he was known for his activism and rebelliousness, frequently voting against the Labour whip, including when the party was in government under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
Corbyn announced his candidacy for the Labour leadership following Labour's defeat in the 2015 general election and the resignation of Ed Miliband. Despite entering the leadership race as the dark horse candidate and having only just secured 35 nominations from fellow Labour MPs to be placed on the ballot, Corbyn quickly emerged as the leading candidate and was elected leader in September 2015, with a first-round vote of 59.5%.
After the EU referendum in June 2016 resulted in a vote for Brexit, Labour MPs passed a vote of no confidence in Corbyn by 172 votes to 40 following the resignation of around two-thirds of Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet.[6] In September 2016, following a leadership contest, Corbyn retained the party leadership with an increased vote share of 61.8%.[7] In the snap 2017 general election, Labour (under Corbyn) again finished as the second largest party in parliament, but increased their share of the popular vote to 40%, resulting in a net gain of 30 seats and a hung parliament. It was the first time Labour had made a net gain of seats since 1997, and the party's 9.6 percentage-point increase in vote share was its largest in a single general election since 1945.
Early life
Corbyn was born in Chippenham and brought up in nearby Kington St Michael in Wiltshire.[8] He is the youngest of the four sons of Naomi Loveday (née Josling; 1915–1987), a maths teacher, and David Benjamin Corbyn (1915–1986), an electrical engineer and expert in power rectifiers. His brother Piers Corbyn is a weather forecaster.[9] His parents were peace campaigners who met in the 1930s at a committee meeting in support of the Spanish Republic at Conway Hall during the Spanish Civil War.[10][11][12] When Corbyn was seven years old, the family moved to Pave Lane in Shropshire, where his father bought Yew Tree Manor (renamed Yew Tree Guesthouse),[13] converting it into a family home.[8]
After school,[20] Corbyn worked briefly as a reporter for a local newspaper, the Newport and Market Drayton Advertiser.[21] At around the age of 19 he spent two years doing Voluntary Service Overseas in Jamaica.[22]
He was appointed a member of a district health authority and in early 1974, at the age of 24, he was elected to Haringey Council in South Hornsey ward.[27] After boundary changes in 1978 he was re-elected in Harringay ward as councillor, remaining so until 1983.[10][28] As a delegate from Hornsey to the Labour Party conference in 1978, Corbyn successfully moved a motion calling for dentists to be employed by the NHS rather than private contractors.[29] He also spoke in another debate, describing a motion calling for greater support for law and order as "more appropriate to the National Front than to the Labour Party".[30]
Corbyn became the local Labour Party's agent and organiser,[31] and had responsibility for the 1979 general election campaign in Hornsey.[14] Around this time, he became involved with London Labour Briefing, where he was a contributor and member of the editorial board during the 1980s. It has been reported that he served as its general secretary for some time.[32] He worked on Tony Benn's unsuccessful deputy leadership campaign in 1981. He was keen to allow former International Marxist Group member Tariq Ali to join the party, despite Labour's National Executive having declared him unacceptable, and declared that "so far as we are concerned ... he's a member of the party and he'll be issued with a card."[33] In May 1982, when Corbyn was chairman of the Constituency Labour Party, Ali was given a party card signed by Corbyn;[34] in November the local party voted by 17 to 14 to insist on his membership "up to and including the point of disbandment of the party".[35]
In the July 1982 edition of London Labour Briefing, Corbyn opposed expulsions of the Militant tendency, saying that "If expulsions are in order for Militant, they should apply to us too." In the same year, he was the "provisional convener" of "Defeat the Witch-Hunt Campaign", based at Corbyn's then address.[36]
Parliamentary backbencher (1983–2015)
Labour in opposition (1983–97)
Corbyn was selected as the Labour Partycandidate for the constituency of Islington North, in February 1982,[18][37] winning the final ballot by 39 votes against 35 for GLC councillor Paul Boateng.[14] At the 1983 general election he was elected Member of Parliament for Islington North,[18] after defeating the incumbent Michael O'Halloran and immediately joined the socialist Campaign Group, later becoming secretary of the group.[38][39] Shortly after being elected to parliament, he began writing a weekly column for the Morning Star.[40] In May 2015, he said that "the Star is the most precious and only voice we have in the daily media".[41] In February 2017, Morning Star said about Corbyn: "He has been bullied, betrayed and ridiculed, and yet he carries on with the same grace and care he always shows to others - however objectionable their behaviour and treatment of him might be."[42]
In 1983, Corbyn spoke out on a "no socialism without gay liberation" platform and continued to campaign for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.[19]
He supported the 1984–85 miners' strike and,[46] in 1985, he invited striking miners into House of Commons gallery who were expelled for shouting: "Coal not dole".[19] Corbyn was given a medallion at the end of the strike by the miners in recognition of his help.[46]
During the BBC's Newsnight in 1984, Conservative MP Terry Dicks asserted that so-called Labour scruffs (such as Corbyn, who at this time was known for wearing open-necked shirts to the Commons[47]) should be banned from addressing the House of Commons unless they maintained higher standards. Corbyn responded, saying that: "It's not a fashion parade, it's not a gentleman's club, it's not a bankers' institute, it's a place where the people are represented."[48]
Sinn Féin, IRA and similar links
In the 1980s Corbyn took a keen interest in the conflict in Northern Ireland. He wanted to develop dialogue with the Irish Republican Party Sinn Féin and so, when Gerry Adams became the first Sinn Fein MP in 1983, Corbyn met with Adams at Westminster along with a number of other Labour MPs.[49] In 1984 Corbyn and Ken Livingstone invited two convicted Provisional IRA members as well as Gerry Adams and other members of Sinn Féin to Westminster. The meeting took place three weeks after the Brighton hotel bombing, an attack on the Conservative Party leadership carried out by the IRA that killed five people.[50][51][52] He became known during the 1980s for his work on behalf of the Guildford Four and Birmingham Six, who were eventually found to have been wrongly convicted of responsibility for a series of bombings carried out in England in the mid-1970s by the IRA that killed 28 people.[53][54][55][56][57] In the run up to the 2017 general election, Corbyn said that he had "never met the IRA", although Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott later clarified that although he had met members of the IRA, "he met with them in their capacity as activists in Sinn Fein".[58][59]
Corbyn was arrested in 1986 for protesting against the trial of a group of IRA members including the Brighton Bomber Patrick Magee. Magee was convicted of murdering five people and the group were convicted of planning a "massive bombing campaign in London and seaside resorts". After refusing police requests to move from outside the court, Corbyn and the other protesters were arrested for obstruction and held for five hours before being released on bail, but were not charged.[60] Following the 1987 Loughgall ambush, in which eight IRA members and one civilian were killed in a British Army operation aimed at preventing the IRA trying to blow up a police station, he attended a commemoration by the Wolfe Tone Society and stated "I’m happy to commemorate all those who died fighting for an independent Ireland".[61][62]
In the early 1990s, MI5 opened a file on Corbyn over fears his IRA links meant he could have been a threat to national security.[63][64] The Metropolitan Police's Special Branch was also monitoring Corbyn at the time, and continued to monitor him for two decades over fears he was attempting to "undermine democracy".[65][66] According to The Sunday Times, following research in Irish and Republican archives, Corbyn was involved in over 72 events connected with Sinn Féin, or other pro-republican groups, during the period of the IRA's paramilitary campaign.[67]
Between 1997 and 2010, during the most recent Labour Government, Corbyn was the Labour MP who voted most often against the party whip, including three-line whip votes. In 2005 he was identified as the second most rebellious Labour MP of all time when the party was in government.[72] He was the most rebellious Labour MP in the 1997–2001 Parliament,[73] the 2001–2005 Parliament[74] and the 2005–2010 Parliament,[75] defying the whip 428 times while Labour was in power.[76] The left-wing Jacobin magazine described him as "a figure who for decades challenged them [Labour Party elites] from the backbench as one of the most rebellious left-wing members of parliament."[77]
Anti-war activism
In October 2001, Corbyn was elected to the steering committee of the Stop the War Coalition, which was formed to oppose the Afghanistan War which started later that year. In 2002, Corbyn reported unrest : "there is disquiet...about issues of foreign policy" among some members of the Labour party. He cited "the deployment of troops to Afghanistan and the threat of bombing Iraq" as examples.[78] He was vehemently opposed to the Iraq War in 2003, and spoke at dozens of anti-war rallies in Britain and overseas. He helped organise the February anti-Iraq War protest which was claimed to be the largest such protest in British political history. In 2006, Corbyn was one of 12 Labour MPs to support Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party's call for a parliamentary inquiry into the Iraq War.[79] He was elected chair of the coalition in succession to Andrew Murray in September 2011, but resigned once he became Leader of the Labour Party in September 2015.[80]
Corbyn addressing London's People's Assembly Demonstration in June 2014
Corbyn hosted a call-in show on Press TV, an Iranian government television channel, from 2009 to 2012 for which he was paid up to £20,000, according to the register of members' interests at the House of Commons.[82][83][84] Corbyn's final appearance was six months after the network had its UK broadcasting license revoked by Ofcom for its part in filming the detention and torture of Maziar Bahari, an Iranian journalist.[82] Ofcom ruled in November 2010 that Corbyn did not show due impartiality when he appeared on Press TV as a guest on George Galloway’s weekly show.[85]
Before becoming party leader Corbyn had been returned as Member of Parliament for Islington North seven times, gaining 60.24% of the vote and a majority of 21,194 in the 2015 general election.[88]
Following the Labour Party's defeat at the general election on 7 May 2015, Ed Miliband resigned as its party leader, triggering a leadership election. On 2 June, it was reported in media sources that Corbyn was considering standing as a candidate, having been disillusioned by the lack of a left-wing voice. The next day, Corbyn confirmed to his local newspaper, The Islington Tribune, that he would stand in the election on a "clear anti-austerity platform". He added: "This decision is in response to an overwhelming call by Labour Party members who want to see a broader range of candidates and a thorough debate about the future of the party. I am standing to give Labour Party members a voice in this debate".[89] The other candidates were Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham and Shadow Care Minister Liz Kendall.[90][91] Corbyn had the lowest number of nominations from fellow MPs of any Labour Party Leader, and several who nominated him later claimed to have cleared him to run more to widen the political debate within the party than because of a desire or expectation that he would win.[92][93] Nonetheless, he rapidly became the frontrunner among the candidates.
At the Second Reading of the Welfare Reform and Work Bill in July 2015, Corbyn joined 47 Labour MPs to oppose the Bill, describing it as "rotten and indefensible", whilst the other three leadership candidates abstained.[94] In August 2015, he called on Iain Duncan Smith to resign as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions after it emerged that thousands of disabled people had died after being found fit to work by Work Capability Assessments (instituted in 2008) between 2011 and 2014.[95]
Following a rule change under Miliband, members of the public who supported Labour's aims and values could join the party as "registered supporters" for £3 and be entitled to vote in the election.[96] There was speculation the rule change would lead to Corbyn being elected by registered supporters without majority support from ordinary members.[97] Corbyn was elected party leader in a landslide victory on 12 September 2015 with 59.5% of first-preference votes in the first round of voting.[98] Corbyn would have won in the first round with 51% of votes, even without "£3 registered supporters", having gained the support of 49.6% of full members and 57.6% of affiliated supporters.[97][99] Corbyn's 40.5% majority was a larger proportional majority than that attained by Tony Blair in 1994.[100][101] His margin of victory was said to be "the largest mandate ever won by a party leader".[102]
Leader of the Opposition
Jeremy Corbyn speaking at the #StopTrident rally at Trafalgar Square on Saturday 27 February 2016.
After being elected leader on 12 September 2015, Corbyn became Leader of the Official Opposition and shortly thereafter his appointment to the Privy Council was announced.[103][104] Two days later Corbyn engaged in his first Prime Minister's Questions session as leader and broke with the traditional format by asking the Prime Minister six questions he had received from members of the public, the result of his invitation to Labour Party members to send suggestions, for which he received around 40,000 emails.[105] Corbyn stressed his desire to reduce the "theatrical" nature of the House of Commons, and his début was described in a Guardian editorial as "a good start" and a "long overdue" change to the tone of PMQs.[106] He delivered his first Labour Annual Conference address as leader on 29 September 2015.[107] In October 2015, Corbyn appointed the Guardian journalist Seumas Milne as the Labour Party's Executive Director of Strategy and Communications.[108] As Leader of the Opposition he was made a member of the Privy Council in November 2015.[109]
In July 2016, a study and analysis by academics from the London School of Economics of months of eight national newspaper articles about Corbyn in the first months of his leadership of Labour showed that 75% of them either distorted or failed to represent his actual views on subjects.[110][111]
After members of Islamic State carried out terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015, Corbyn suggested that the only way to deal with the threat posed by the jihadist group would be to reach a political settlement aimed at resolving the Syrian Civil War.[113] Prime Minister David Cameron sought to build political consensus for UK military intervention against IS targets in Syria in the days after the attacks. Speaking at a regional party conference in Bristol on 21 November, Corbyn warned against "external intervention" in Syria but told delegates that Labour would "consider the proposals the Government brings forward".[114][115]
Cameron set out his case for military intervention to Parliament in November.[116] Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet met immediately after the Prime Minister's statement in which Corbyn said he would continue with efforts "to reach a common view" on Syria, while Shadow Foreign SecretaryHilary Benn suggested the case for air strikes was "compelling".[117] Later that evening Corbyn sent a letter to Labour MPs saying that he could not support military action against Islamic State: "The issue [is] whether what the Prime Minister is proposing strengthens, or undermines, our national security...I do not believe the current proposal for air strikes in Syria will protect our security and therefore cannot support it."[116] Amid widespread reports of division in the Parliamentary Labour Party, Corbyn insisted that the final decision on whether the Labour Party would oppose air strikes rested with him.[118] On 30 November, Corbyn agreed that Labour MPs would be given a free vote on air strikes when the issue was voted on two days later. A total of 66 Labour MPs voted for the Syrian air strikes, including Hilary Benn and Deputy Labour Leader Tom Watson, while Corbyn and the majority of Labour MPs voted against.[119][120][121]
There was widespread speculation following the vote that Corbyn would reshuffle his Shadow Cabinet to remove Hilary Benn, but Corbyn's January reshuffle retained Benn in the same position.[122] The reshuffle prompted the resignations of three junior shadow ministers who were unhappy that Corbyn had demoted MPs who disagreed with his position on Syria and Trident.[123]
On 6 January 2016, Corbyn replaced Shadow Culture Secretary Michael Dugher with Shadow Defence Secretary Maria Eagle (who was in turn replaced by Shadow Employment Minister Emily Thornberry).[124] Thornberry, unlike Maria Eagle, is an opponent of nuclear weapons and British involvement in Syria. Eagle was in turn moved to Shadow Culture Secretary to replace Michael Dugher. Corbyn also replaced Shadow Europe Minister (not attending Shadow Cabinet) Pat McFadden with Pat Glass.[124] On 11 January 2016, Shadow Attorney General Catherine McKinnell resigned, citing party infighting, family reasons and the ability to speak in Parliament beyond her legal portfolio. She was replaced by Karl Turner.[125]
Labour had a net loss of 18 local council seats and controlled as many councils as before (gaining control of Bristol but losing Dudley). The BBC's Projected National Vote Share was 31% for Labour, 30% for the Conservatives, 15% for the Liberal Democrats and 12% for UKIP.[126] Labour candidate Sadiq Khan won the London mayorship from the Conservatives. Labour's misfortunes in Scotland continued, where they fell into third place behind the Conservatives.[127][128] They retained government in Wales despite some small losses.
Following the June 2016 vote to leave the EU, Corbyn was accused of "lukewarm" campaigning for Britain to stay in the European Union and showing a "lack of leadership" on the issue by several party figures.[129][130]Alan Johnson, who headed up the Labour In for Britain campaign said “at times" it felt as if Corbyn's office was "working against the rest of the party and had conflicting objectives". Corbyn's decision to go on holiday during the campaign was criticised.[131] In September 2016, Corbyn's spokesman said Corbyn wanted access to the European Single Market, but there were "aspects" of EU membership related to privatisation "which Jeremy campaigned against in the referendum campaign."[132][133]
Shadow Cabinet resignations and vote of no confidence
Three days after the EU referendum, Hilary Benn was sacked after it was disclosed that he had been organising a mass resignation of Shadow Cabinet members to force Corbyn to stand down.[134][135] Several other Cabinet members resigned in solidarity with Benn and by mid-afternoon on 27 June 2016, 23 of the 31 Shadow Cabinet members had resigned their roles as did seven parliamentary private secretaries. Earlier Corbyn announced changes to his Shadow Cabinet, moving Emily Thornberry (to Shadow Foreign Secretary), Diane Abbott (to Shadow Health Secretary), and appointing Pat Glass, Andy McDonald, Clive Lewis, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Kate Osamor, Rachael Maskell, Cat Smith and Dave Anderson to his Shadow Cabinet. However just two days later one of the newly appointed members, Pat Glass, resigned, saying "the situation is untenable".[136]
A motion of no confidence in Corbyn as Labour leader was tabled by MPs Margaret Hodge and Ann Coffey on 24 June 2016.[137] Hodge said "This has been a tumultuous referendum which has been a test of leadership ... Jeremy has failed that test". Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and union leaders including Len McCluskey condemned the motion.[138][139]
On 28 June, he lost the vote of confidence by Labour Party MPs by 172–40.[6] He responded with a statement that the motion had no "constitutional legitimacy" and that he intended to continue as the elected leader. The vote did not require the party to call a leadership election, but was expected to lead to a leadership challenge.[140][141] By 29 June, Corbyn had been encouraged to resign by Tom Watson and senior Labour politicians including his predecessor, Ed Miliband.[142] Several union leaders (from GMB, UCATT, the CWU, the TSSA, ASLEF, the FBU, the BFWAU and the NUM) issued a joint statement saying that Corbyn was "the democratically-elected leader of Labour and his position should not be challenged except through the proper democratic procedures provided for in the party's constitution" and that a leadership election would be an "unnecessary distraction". Diane Abbott, shadow health secretary, said that cabinet resignations and secret ballot had no status under the party rule book. "MPs don't choose the leader of the Labour party, the party does".[143] A YouGov poll of Labour party members found that about 50% expected to back Corbyn if a leadership ballot was called.[144] London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who did not take a side in the dispute, said "When Labour splits, when we're divided, we lose elections".[145]
The division between Corbyn and the Labour parliamentary party continued.[146][147] On 11 July 2016 Angela Eagle, who had recently resigned from his Shadow Cabinet, formally launched her leadership campaign.[148]
After news reports that Eagle's office had been vandalised, and threats and abuse to other MPs, including death threats to himself, Corbyn said: "It is extremely concerning that Angela Eagle has been the victim of a threatening act" and called for "respect and dignity, even where there is disagreement."[149][150]
Corbyn at a leadership election rally in August 2016
On 12 July 2016, following a dispute as to whether the elected leader would need nominations in an election as a "challenger" to their own leadership, Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) resolved that Corbyn, as the incumbent leader, had an automatic right to be on the ballot,[151] and also decided that members needed to have signed up on or before 12 January 2016 to be eligible to vote, meaning that many members who had joined recently would not be able to vote. The NEC did however decide that "registered supporters" would be entitled to vote if they paid a one off fee of £25. 184,541 people subsequently paid the one-off fee to become “registered supporters” of the party during the two-day window in July, meaning that over 700,000 people had a vote in the leadership election.[152][153][154][155]
The decision to retain Corbyn on the ballot was contested unsuccessfully in a High Court action brought by Labour donor Michael Foster.[156]
On 13 July, Owen Smith entered the Labour Party leadership race.[157] Subsequently, on 19 July, Angela Eagle withdrew and offered her endorsement to Smith.[158]
The results of an Ipsos MORI survey, polling the British public as a whole, released on 14 July indicated that 66% of those surveyed believed that the Labour party needed a new leader before the 2020 elections. As well, only 23 percent believed that Corbyn would make a good Prime Minister while Theresa May had an approval rating of 55 percent.[159] A Opinium/Observer poll on 23 July found that among those who said they backed Labour, 54% supported Corbyn against just 22% who would prefer Smith. Some 20% said they are undecided and 4% said they do not intend to vote. When voters were asked who they thought would be the best prime minister – Corbyn or Theresa May – among Labour supporters 48% said Corbyn and 22% May, among all UK voters 52% chose May and just 16% were for Corbyn.[160]
More than 40 female Labour MPs, in an open letter during the campaign in July 2016, called on Corbyn to deal with issues relating to online abuse, and criticised him for his allegedly unsatisfactory responses and inaction.[161] Speaking at the launch of policies intending to democratise the internet in late August, Corbyn described such abuse as "appalling". He continued: "I have set up a code of conduct on this. The Labour party has a code of conduct on this, and it does have to be dealt with".[162]
On 16 August 2016, Corbyn released a video of himself sitting on the floor of a Virgin Trains East Coast train while travelling to a leadership hustings in Gateshead. Corbyn said the train was "ram-packed" and used this to support his policy to reverse the 1990s privatisation of the railways of Great Britain.[163] A dispute, nicknamed Traingate in the media, developed a week later when Virgin released CCTV images appearing to show that Corbyn had walked past some available seats on the train before recording his video.[164] Corbyn subsequently said that there had not been room for all his team to sit together until later on in the journey, when other passengers were upgraded by train staff.[165]
The psephologistJohn Curtice wrote just before Corbyn's second leadership win: "There is evidently a section of the British public, to be found particularly among younger voters, for whom the Labour leader does have an appeal; it just does not look like a section that is big enough, on its own at least, to enable Labour to win a general election".[166] Meanwhile, a poll for The Independent by BMG Research, suggested that working class voters were more likely to consider Corbyn "incompetent" than those from the middle class, and a higher proportion thought he was "out of touch" also.[167]Martin Kettle of The Guardian wrote that "many Labour MPs, even some who face defeat, want an early election" to prove decisively that Corbyn's Labour is unelectable as a government.[168] "If there is hope for Labour it lies with the voters. Only they can change the party".[168]
Corbyn was re-elected as Labour leader on 24 September, with 313,209 votes (61.8%) compared to 193,229 (38.2%) for Owen Smith – a slightly increased share of the vote compared to his election in 2015, when he won 59%. On a turnout of 77.6%, Corbyn won the support of 59% of party members, 70% of registered supporters and 60% of affiliated supporters.[7] In his acceptance speech, Corbyn called on the "Labour family" to end their divisions and to "wipe that slate clean from today and get on with the work we've got to do as a party".[169] He continued: "Together, arguing for the real change this country needs, I have no doubt this party can win the next election whenever the Prime Minister decides to call it and form the next government."[170]
Article 50
In January 2017, Corbyn announced that he would impose a three-line whip to force Labour MPs in favour of triggering Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union to initiate the withdrawal of the UK from the EU. In response, two Labour whips said they would vote against the bill. Tulip Siddiq, the shadow minister for early years, and Jo Stevens, the Shadow Welsh Secretary resigned in protest.[171][172] On 1 February, forty seven Labour MPs defied Corbyn's whip on the second reading of the bill.[173]
May 2017 local elections
At the 2017 local elections, Labour under Corbyn lost nearly 400 councillors and control of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire county council. The BBC's Projected National Vote Share was 38% for the Conservatives, 27% for Labour, 18% for the Liberal Democrats and 5% for UKIP, with others on around 12%.[174]
June 2017 Shadow Cabinet
A year after most of his Shadow Cabinet resigned, Corbyn sacked three Shadow Cabinet members and a fourth resigned.[175] This was after they had rebelled against party orders to abstain in the vote on a motion that was proposed by Labour MP Chuka Umunna and was aimed at keeping the UK in the EU single market.[175]
Corbyn with MPs at the Labour Party General Election Launch
Corbyn said he welcomed Prime Minister Theresa May's proposal to seek an early general election in 2017.[176] He said his party should support the government's move in the parliamentary vote.[177]
Earlier in the year Corbyn had become the first opposition party leader since 1982 to lose a by-election to an incumbent government,[178] and at the time May called the election Labour trailed the Conservative Party by up to 25 points in some opinion polls.[179] A large Conservative majority was widely predicted. However, following the short campaign, Labour surprised many pundits by increasing their number and share of votes and seats, with the Conservatives remaining the largest party but losing their Parliamentary majority.[180][179] Labour's vote share increase was its largest since 1945.[181]
Corbyn's election campaign featured rallies with a large audience and connected with a grassroots following for the party, including appearing on stage in front of a crowd of 20,000 at the Wirral Live Festival in Prenton Park.[182][183] He chose to take part in television debates and dressed more professionally than usual, wearing a business suit and tie.[184] He said the result was a public call for the end of "austerity politics" and suggested May should step down as Prime Minister.[179] Corbyn said that he had received the largest vote for a winning candidate in the history of his borough.[185]
Opinion polls during the first few months of his leadership gave Corbyn lower personal approval ratings than any previous Labour leader in the early stages of their leadership amongst the general public.[186] His approval amongst party members, however, was initially strong reaching a net approval of +45 in May 2016, though this fell back sharply to just +3 by the end of the next month following criticism of Corbyn's handling of the EU referendum and a string of Shadow Cabinet resignations.[187]
A poll by Election Data in February 2017 found that 50% of Labour voters wanted Corbyn to stand down by the next election, while 44% wanted him to stay. In the same month, YouGov found party members' net approval rating of Corbyn was 17%, whereas a year earlier the result found by the same pollsters had been 55%.[188] Also during February 2017, Ipsos MORI found Corbyn's satisfaction rating among the electorate as a whole was minus 38%; among Labour voters it was minus 9%.[189]
Polling by the end of the first week of campaigning during the 2017 general election was suggesting a defeat for Labour with the parliamentary party much reduced and a landslide victory for the Conservatives with a majority of perhaps 150 MPs. An ITV Wales/YouGov poll at this time placed the Conservatives on 40% in Wales against Labour's 30%; Labour MPs have formed a majority in Wales since the 1922 election.[190] However, an opinion poll published on 22 May suggested that the position had been reversed, with Labour now polling 44% in Wales and the Conservatives 34%.[191] Polls following the publication of the Labour and Conservative manifestos suggested that nationally, Labour was narrowing the Conservative lead to nine points, with YouGov putting the party on 35% of the vote, just short of the proportion achieved by Tony Blair in 2005.[192]
Aftermath
Immediately after the 2017 election, a Survation poll put Labour on 45% with the Conservatives on 39%, the first poll to show Labour ahead with Corbyn as leader.[193] 4% more voters approve of Corbyn than disapprove.[194] In the wake of the election, Corbyn announced that the party was being placed on "permanent campaign mode",[195] expecting another general election to be called as soon as autumn 2017.[196] He began a series of rallies in key marginal seats, including Hastings & Rye, Southampton Itchen and Bournemouth West.[197]
In 1997, the political scientists David Butler and Dennis Kavanagh described Corbyn's political stance as "far-left",[198] although in 2017, Stephen Bush suggested his association with the party's left wing owes more to his past career and rhetoric than the policies he has pursued as party leader.[199]
When asked if he regarded himself as a Marxist, Corbyn responded by saying: "That is a very interesting question actually. I haven't thought about that for a long time. I haven't really read as much of Marx as we should have done. I have read quite a bit but not that much."[200] Similarly, defending John McDonnell's statement that there is "a lot to learn" from Karl Marx's book Das Kapital, Corbyn described Marx as a "great economist".[201][202] Corbyn has said he has read some of the works of Adam Smith, Karl Marx and David Ricardo and has "looked at many, many others."[201]
Corbyn opposes austerity, and has advocated an economic strategy based on investing-to-grow as opposed to making spending cuts. During his first Labour leadership election campaign, Corbyn proposed that the Bank of England should be able to issue money for capital spending, especially housebuilding, instead of quantitative easing, which attempts to stimulate the economy by buying assets from commercial banks. He describes it as "People's Quantitative Easing".[86] A number of economists, including Steve Keen, argued in a letter to The Guardian that despite claims to the contrary there was nothing "extreme left" about the anti-austerity policies he proposed in his leadership campaign.[210]Robert Skidelsky offered a qualified endorsement of Corbyn's proposals to carry out QE through a National Investment Bank.[210][211] As the policy would change the central bank's focus on stabilising prices, however, it has been argued it could increase the perceived risk of investing in the UK and raise the prospect of increased inflation.[212] His second leadership campaign saw him promise £500 billion in additional public spending, though he did not detail how he would fund it.[213]
In July 2016, the Chilcot report of the Iraq Inquiry was issued, criticising the former Labour PM Tony Blair for joining the United States in the war against Iraq. Subsequently, Corbyn – who had voted against military action against Iraq – gave a speech in Westminster commenting: "I now apologise sincerely on behalf of my party for the disastrous decision to go to war in Iraq in March 2003" which he called an "act of military aggression launched on a false pretext" something that has "long been regarded as illegal by the overwhelming weight of international opinion".[222] Corbyn specifically apologised to "the people of Iraq"; to the families of British soldiers who died in Iraq or returned injured; and to "the millions of British citizens who feel our democracy was traduced and undermined by the way in which the decision to go to war was taken on."[223]
Middle East
Corbyn has been vocal on Middle Eastforeign policy. He is a member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, campaigning against conflict in Gaza and what the organisation considers to be apartheid in Israel.[224] At a meeting hosted by Stop the War Coalition in 2009, Corbyn said he invited "friends" from Hamas and Hezbollah to an event in parliament, referred to Hamas as "an organization dedicated towards the good of the Palestinian people," and said that the British government's labelling of Hamas as a terrorist organisation is "a big, big historical mistake."[225] Asked on Channel 4 News in July 2015 why he had called representatives from Hamas and Hezbollah "friends", Corbyn explained, "I use it in a collective way, saying our friends are prepared to talk," and that the specific occasion he used it was to introduce speakers from Hezbollah at a Parliamentary meeting about the Middle East. He said that he does not condone the actions of either organisation: "Does it mean I agree with Hamas and what it does? No. Does it mean I agree with Hezbollah and what they do? No. What it means is that I think to bring about a peace process, you have to talk to people with whom you may profoundly disagree … There is not going to be a peace process unless there is talks involving Israel, Hezbollah and Hamas and I think everyone knows that", he argued.[226] He has called for the lifting of sanctions as part of a negotiated full settlement of issues concerning the Iranian nuclear programme, and the starting of a political process to decommission Israel's nuclear arsenal.[227][228][229]
Corbyn has criticised Britain's close ties with Saudi Arabia and British involvement in the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen. In January 2016, after a United Nations panel ruled Saudi-led bombing campaign of Yemen contravened international humanitarian law, Corbyn called for an independent inquiry into the UK's arms exports policy to Saudi Arabia. Corbyn and Hilary Benn wrote to David Cameron asking him to "set out the exact nature of the involvement of UK personnel working with the Saudi military".[230] Corbyn has constantly called for the British Government to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia to show that Britain wants a peace process in Yemen, "not an invasion by Saudi Arabia".[231]
NATO and nuclear weapons
Corbyn would like to pull the United Kingdom out of NATO,[232] but has acknowledged that there is not an appetite for it among the public and instead intends to push for NATO to "restrict its role".[233] In April 2014, Corbyn wrote an article for the Morning Star attributing the crisis in Ukraine to NATO. He said the "root of the crisis" lay in "the US drive to expand eastwards" and described Russia's actions as "not unprovoked".[234] He has said it "probably was" a mistake to allow former Warsaw Pact countries to join NATO.[234][235]
Corbyn is a longstanding supporter of unilateral nuclear disarmament,[236][237] although he has suggested a compromise of having submarines without nuclear weapons.[238][239] In June 2016, he agreed to allow Labour MPs a free vote on the replacement of Trident, and 140 Labour MPs voted with the government in favour of the new submarines, in line with party policy, and 47 joining Corbyn to vote against.[236]
Corbyn is a longtime supporter of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign, which campaigns against the US embargo against Cuba and supports the Cuban Revolution.[242][243][244] In November 2016, following the death of former communist President of Cuba Fidel Castro,[245] Corbyn said that Castro, despite his "flaws", was a "huge figure of modern history, national independence and 20th Century socialism...Castro's achievements were many."[246] Internal Labour party critics of Corbyn accused him of glossing over Castro's human rights abuses.[247]
Venezuela
A proponent of the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign, Corbyn praised Hugo Chávez following the death of the socialist President of Venezuela, saying "He made massive contributions to Venezuela & a very wide world".[248] Corbyn also shared support for Chávez's successor, President Nicolás Maduro, in 2014 while congratulating him on his presidency.[249] Following the 2017 Venezuelan Constitutional Assembly election, which was condemned and not recognized by over 40 nations,[250] including the European Union,[251] pressure was mounted on Corbyn to speak out against President Maduro's election.[249]
Despite earlier comments during the leadership campaign that there might be circumstances in which he would favour withdrawal,[257] in September 2015, Corbyn said that Labour would campaign for Britain to stay in the EU regardless of the result of Cameron's negotiations, and instead "pledge to reverse any changes" if Cameron reduced the rights of workers or citizens.[258] He also believed that Britain should play a crucial role in Europe by making demands about working arrangements across the continent, the levels of corporation taxation and in forming an agreement on environmental regulation.[259]
In June 2016, in the run-up to the EU referendum, Corbyn said that there was an "overwhelming case" for staying in the EU. In a speech in London, Corbyn said: "We, the Labour Party, are overwhelmingly for staying in, because we believe the European Union has brought investment, jobs and protection for workers, consumers and the environment." Corbyn also criticised media coverage and warnings from both sides, saying that the debate had been dominated too much by "myth-making and prophecies of doom".[260] He said he was "seven, or seven and a half" out of 10 for staying in the EU.[261]
Falklands
During the 1982 Falklands War, in a meeting of Haringey Council, he opposed a motion offering support to British troops sent to retake the islands, instead declaring the war to be a "Tory plot" and submitted an alternative motion that condemned the war as a "nauseating waste of lives and money".[262] Corbyn has said that he would like to achieve “some reasonable accommodation” with Argentina over the Falkland Islands dispute, with a "degree of joint administration" between the UK and Argentina over the islands.[263][264]
National and constitutional issues
Corbyn is a longstanding supporter of a United Ireland[265] and reportedly described himself as an "anti-imperialist" campaigner for the region in 1984.[266] In 1985, Corbyn voted against the Anglo-Irish Agreement, saying that it strengthened the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland[267] and he opposed it as he wished to see a united Ireland.[268] In July 1998, Corbyn endorsed the Good Friday Agreement by voting for the Northern Ireland Bill saying: "We look forward to peace, hope and reconciliation in Ireland in the future."[269] Corbyn would prefer Britain to become a republic, but has said that, given the Royal Family's popularity, "it's not a battle that I am fighting".[270]
On the issue of Scottish independence, when asked if he would consider himself a unionist, Corbyn said: "No, I would describe myself as a Socialist. I would prefer the UK to stay together, yes, but I recognise the right of people to take the decision on their own autonomy and independence."[271] Corbyn said that he did not favour holding a second Scottish independence referendum, but that it would be wrong for the UK Parliament to block such a referendum if the Scottish Parliament desired to have one.[272]
Corbyn lives in Finsbury Park, Islington, north London.[1] He has been married three times and divorced twice, and has three sons with his second wife.
In 1987, he married Chilean exile Claudia Bracchitta, granddaughter of Ricardo Bracchitta (Cónsul General de España en Santiago) and niece of Dr Óscar Soto Guzman,[279] by whom he has three sons. Following a difference of opinion about sending their son to a grammar school – Corbyn opposes selective education – they divorced in 1999, although Corbyn said in June 2015 that he continues to "get on very well" with his former wife.[25][280] His son subsequently attended Queen Elizabeth's School, which was his wife's first choice.[281] Their second son, Sebastian, worked on his leadership campaign and is now employed as John McDonnell's Chief of Staff.[282][283][284]
In 2013, Corbyn married his Mexican-born partner Laura Álvarez,[285] who runs a fair-trade coffee import business.[286] A former human rights lawyer in Mexico, she first met Corbyn shortly after his divorce from Bracchitta, having come to London to support her sister Marcela following the abduction of her niece to America by her sister's estranged husband. They contacted fellow Labour MP Tony Benn for assistance, who introduced them to Corbyn who met with the police on their behalf and spoke at fundraisers until the girl was located in 2003.[287] Álvarez returned to Mexico, with the couple maintaining a long distance relationship until she moved to London in 2011.[288][289] Álvarez has described Corbyn as "not very good at house work but he is a good politician".[290] He has a cat called El Gato.[291]
Interviewed by The Huffington Post in December 2015, Corbyn refused to say what his religious beliefs were, saying that they were a "private thing", while denying that he was an atheist. He has said that he is 'sceptical' of having a god in his life.[291] He described his concerns about the environment as a sort of "spiritualism".[292] Corbyn has described himself as frugal, telling Simon Hattenstone of The Guardian, "I don't spend a lot of money, I lead a very normal life, I ride a bicycle and I don't have a car".[25] He has been vegetarian since the age of 20, following a stint working on a pig farm in Jamaica. Although he has been described in the media as teetotal, he said in an interview with the Mirror newspaper that he does drink but "very, very little".[18][293][294]
In 2013, Corbyn was awarded the Gandhi International Peace Award for his "consistent efforts over a 30-year parliamentary career to uphold the Gandhian values of social justice and non‐violence."[302][303] In the same year, he was honoured by the Grassroot Diplomat Initiative for his "ongoing support for a number of non-government organisations and civil causes".[304] Corbyn has won the Parliamentary "Beard of the Year Award" a record six times, as well as being named as the Beard Liberation Front's Beard of the Year, having previously described his beard as "a form of dissent" against New Labour.[305][306]
In January 2016, it was announced that a satirical musical based on Corbyn's life, and written by Rupert Myers and Bobby Friedman, would be staged at the Waterloo East Theatre in London later in the year. BBC News suggested that Corbyn the Musical: The Motorcycle Diaries "may be the first stage show written about a leader of the opposition".[307]
^ ab"Confrontation looms large in life of a rebel with a cause". Shropshire Star. 22 August 2015. p. 20. Part of Special Report on Corbyn and Labour leadership campaign.
^"Night Corbyn devised Wrekin red flag plan". Shropshire Star. 13 October 2014. p. 14.Report by Toby Neal, refers to local Young Socialist activity unconnected with his journalistic work which was remembered by a former colleague quoted in the story.
^Crick, Michael (10 March 2016). Militant. London: Biteback Publishing Ltd. pp. xvii–xviii. ISBN978-1-78590-029-7. An article in the July 1982 edition of London Labour Briefing illustrated Corbyn's public stance: 'If expulsions are in order for Militant,' he wrote, 'they should apply to us too.' And Corbyn, a year before he became an MP, announced himself as 'provisional convenor' of the new 'Defeat the Witch-Hunt Campaign'. It was based at an address in Lausanne Road in Hornsey, north London, Corbyn's own home at that time.
^PhD Thesis: ‘Analysis of the Development of the British Labour Movement’s Policies and Attitudes Towards the Northern Ireland Problem 1979-1997’ M. O'Donnell. University of Surrey, 1997. p90.
^"The Jeremy Corbyn Story: Profile of Labour leader". He incurred the wrath of the Labour leadership early on his career when he invited two former IRA prisoners to speak at Westminster, two weeks after the Brighton bomb that had nearly killed Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet.
^Paul Hill, Ronan Bennett, Stolen Years, Doubleday, 1990, p. 219.
^Hughie Callaghan, Sally Mulready, Cruel Fate: One Man's Triumph Over Injustice, University of Massachusetts Press, 1993, pp. 178, 191.
^Cowley, Philip (2005). The Rebels: How Blair mislaid his majority. London: Politico's Publishing. p. 18. ISBN1-84275-127-1.. The most rebellious was Dennis Skinner who, unlike Corbyn, was a Member of Parliament during the Labour government of 1974–79.
^Cowley, Philip (2002). Revolts and Rebellions: Parliamentary voting under Blair. London: Politico's Publishing. p. 91. ISBN1-84275-029-1.
^Cowley, Philip (2005). The Rebels: How Blair mislaid his majority. London: Politico's Publishing. p. 53. ISBN1-84275-127-1.
^Eaton, George (12 September 2015). "The epic challenges facing Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader". New Statesman. Retrieved 20 September 2015. Jeremy Corbyn's landslide victory – the largest mandate ever won by a party leader – will at least come as no surprise to him.
^Holden, Michael; Piper, Elizabeth (28 June 2016). "EU leaders tell Britain to exit swiftly, market rout halts". Reuters. reuters. Retrieved 28 June 2016. the confidence vote does not automatically trigger a leadership election and Corbyn, who says he enjoys strong grassroots support, refused to quit. 'I was democratically elected leader of our party for a new kind of politics by 60 percent of Labour members and supporters, and I will not betray them by resigning,' he said.
^"Jeremy Corbyn appeals for Labour 'calm' after death threats". BBC News. BBC. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016. Jeremy Corbyn has called for "calm" and "dignity" from Labour members after leadership challenger Angela Eagle's constituency office was vandalised.
^"Tony Blair says world is better as a result of Iraq War". BBC News. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016. He said the report proved the Iraq War had been an "act of military aggression launched on a false pretext", something he said which has "long been regarded as illegal by the overwhelming weight of international opinion"
^Kuenssberg, Laura (19 July 2016). "MPs vote to renew Trident weapons system". BBC News. Retrieved 19 July 2016. Jeremy Corbyn has been heckled and accused of lying by his own MPs and told he was "defending the countries' enemies" as he announced he would vote against renewing Trident.
^"MPs to vote on Trident nuclear weapons system renewal". BBC News. 18 July 2016. MPs are set to decide on whether to renew Britain's nuclear weapons programme in a Commons vote later.((cite web)): |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
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