London, May 24, (PA Media/dpa/GNA) – Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of Britain’s Labour Party, has announced he is standing as an independent candidate in the UK general election on July 4.

Corbyn said he will stand in his Greater London constituency of Islington North, vowing to be “an independent voice for equality, democracy and peace.”

Corbyn has been suspended by Labour since 2020 after he refused to fully accept the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s findings that the party broke equality law when he was in charge and said anti-Semitism had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons.”

Corbyn told the Islington Tribune that he would fight to retain a seat he has represented for 40 years, adding: “We have to stand up and defend our rights.”

Corbyn appealed to lifelong Labour voters, saying that “I am here to represent the people of Islington North on exactly the same principles that I’ve stood by my whole life: social justice, human rights and peace.”

He went on to say that “these principles are needed now more than ever before”, vowing to defend “a genuine alternative to the corrupt years of this Tory government”, including rent controls, public ownership of energy and water, the abolition of the two-child benefits cap, a Green New Deal, and an ethical foreign policy based on peace and human rights.

Corbyn added: “When I was first elected, I made a promise to stand by my constituents no matter what. In Islington North, we keep our promises.”

GNA