Jeremy Corbyn’s last stand: should he run and could he win?

Labour's ex-leader has yet to decide if he will contest the next election as an independent. His allies and the voters of his long-held seat in Islington North debate his chances

After Labour's NEC passed a motion last week preventing Jeremy Corbyn from standing as a Labour candidate in Islington North, the party's former leader put out a statement which said: I will not be intimidated into silence. I have spent my life fighting for a fairer society on behalf of the people of Islington North, and I have no intention of stopping now."

The implication seemed to be that he would stand as an independent at the next general election, thus setting up a dramatic ideological battle between Keir Starmer's party machine and the hard left rallying around arguably its most successful leader in British history. Apart from the political spectacle, that scenario creates a crisis of conscience for many Labour members in the constituency that Corbyn has represented for 40 years.