Islington North is a constituency in Greater London established for the 1885 general election. It has been represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by one member of Parliament (MP) since it was created, with Jeremy Corbyn serving as its MP since 1983. Corbyn, who served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2015 until 2020, has been an independent since 2020. After having only ever stood as a candidate of the Labour Party, he was returned as an independent MP for Islington North at the 2024 general election.
Constituency profile
Islington North is an urban constituency in the Borough of Islington in Greater London, located around north of the centre of London. It includes the neighbourhoods of Archway, Finsbury Park, Highbury, Tufnell Park and parts of Holloway. The constituency is densely-populated and developed around the Great North Road (now the A1). The road has existed since mediaeval times but the area was mostly developed during the 19th century. Arsenal Football Club is located in the constituency. Islington North has average levels of wealth; there is some deprivation in Finsbury Park whilst Highbury is more affluent. House prices are higher than the rest of London and more than double the national average.
In general, residents of the constituency are very young and well-educated, and a high proportion work in professional occupations. They are unlikely to be married and have low rates of homeownership. Black people were the largest ethnic minority group at 15% and Asians made up 9% of residents. Most of the constituency is represented by the Labour Party at the local borough council, although Green Party councillors were elected in Highbury. Voters in the constituency overwhelmingly supported remaining in the European Union in the 2016 referendum; an estimated 78% voted to remain compared to the nationwide figure of 48%, making Islington North one of the top fifteen most Remain-supporting constituencies out of 650 across the country.
1950–1974
right|thumb|260px|Islington North in London 1950–74 At the next redistribution of seats by the Representation of the People Act 1948 the constituency was again defined as Tollington, Tufnell and Upper Holloway wards of the Metropolitan Borough of Islington, with boundaries as they existed at the end of 1947.
1974–1983
In 1965 local government in Greater London was reorganised, with the formation of London boroughs. The changes were reflected in parliamentary boundaries from 1974. The London Borough of Islington was divided into three constituencies. Islington North was defined as comprising seven wards: Highview, Hillmarton, Hillrise, Junction, Parkway, St. George's and Station.
1983–1997
In 1983 the parliamentary representation of Islington was reduced to two constituencies. The new, enlarged, Islington North was formed from ten wards of the borough as they existed in February 1983. These were Gillespie, Highbury, Highview, Hillrise, Junction, Mildmay, Quadrant, St. George's, Sussex and Tollington wards.
1997–2010
In 1997 there were only slight boundary changes, with the constituency defined as the same ten wards with their boundaries as they existed on 1 June 1994.
Since 2010
The seat covers the northern half of the London Borough of Islington, which includes the areas of Holloway, Highbury, Tufnell Park, Upper Holloway and Archway.
From 2010 until 2022, the constituency comprised the following eight electoral wards: Finsbury Park, Highbury East, Highbury West, Hillrise, Junction, Mildmay, St. George's and Tollington.
Following a review of local authority ward boundaries which came into effect on 4 May 2022, the seat now comprises the following eight London Borough of Islington wards: Arsenal; Finsbury Park; Highbury; Hillrise; Junction; Mildmay; Tollington; Tufnell Park.
The boundaries of the constituency were not changed as part of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies.
These boundaries have been considerably changed since 1970, when Islington returned three MPs and shared another with Hackney. This reflects the depopulation of central London on a lowering of adult occupancy of households and the local authority has replaced tower blocks. The core of the constituency was the area north of Seven Sisters Road and Camden Road. At the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies begun in 2012 the seat was approximately 1,300 electors below the electoral quota and the highest concentration of elector density nationally. The criteria of successive reviews emphasise equal electorates as well as restricting seats to one or, if unavoidable, two local authority areas.
Political history
The constituency was held by the Labour Party without interruption from a by-election in 1937 until former Labour member and leader Jeremy Corbyn won it as an independent in 2024. From 1945 to 2019, Labour's smallest majority was 10.4% of the vote, in a by-election in 1969, on a very low turnout.
As a Labour candidate, Corbyn had his smallest majority (15.3%) in 1983, when he was first elected, and his largest (60.5%) in 2017, when he was leader of the party. In the ten elections since Corbyn began representing the constituency, the Conservatives have finished in second place five times while the Liberal Democrats have also been runners up on five occasions. The 2015 result made the seat the 26th safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.
In the 2016 referendum to leave the European Union, the constituency voted remain by 78.4%. This was the fifth highest support for remain for a constituency.
Members of Parliament
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Election
! Member
! colspan="2" | Party
|-
| 1885
| rowspan="5" | Sir George Trout Bartley
|
|-
| 1886
|-
| 1892
|-
| 1895
|-
| 1900
|-
| 1906
| rowspan="2" | David Waterlow
|
|-
| Jan 1910
|-
| Dec 1910
| Sir George Touche
|
|-
| 1918
| rowspan="2" | Sir Newton Moore
|-
| 1922
|-
| 1923
| rowspan="2" | Sir Henry Cowan
|-
| 1924
|-
| 1929
| Robert Young
|
|-
| 1931
| rowspan="2" | Albert Goodman
|
|-
| 1935
|-
| 1937
| rowspan="2" | Leslie Haden-Guest
|
|-
| 1945
|-
| 1950
| Moelwyn Hughes
|-
| 1951
| rowspan="2" | Wilfred Fienburgh
|-
| 1955
|-
| 1958
| rowspan="4" | Gerry Reynolds
|-
| 1959
|-
| 1964
|-
| 1966
|-
| 1969
| rowspan="5" | Michael O'Halloran
|-
| 1970
|-
| Feb 1974
|-
| Oct 1974
|-
| 1979
|-
| 1983
| rowspan="11" | Jeremy Corbyn
|-
| 1987
|-
| 1992
|-
| 1997
|-
| 2001
|-
| 2005
|-
| 2010
|-
| 2015
|-
| 2017
|-
| 2019
|-
| 2024
|
|}
Election results
thumb|centre|upright=2.5|Election results 1885-2024
<br />
{| border="0" id="toc" style="margin: 0 auto;" align=center
|-
| Elections: || 2020s || 2010s || 2000s || 1990s || 1980s || 1970s || 1960s || 1950s || 1940s || 1930s || 1920s || 1910s
|}
Elections in the 2020s
<!-- this section is transcluded on Electoral history of Jeremy Corbyn -->:
<section begin="General Election 2024"/>
<section end="General Election 2024" />
Elections in the 2010s
<!-- this section is transcluded on Electoral history of Jeremy Corbyn -->:
<section begin="General Election 2019"/>
<section end="General Election 2019" />
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
thumb|120px|Corbyn
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
thumb|120px|Fienburgh
Elections in the 1940s
Elections in the 1930s
thumb|120px|Guest
Elections in the 1920s
thumb|120px|Henry Cowan
Elections in the 1910s
thumb|120px|Moore
<nowiki>*</nowiki> Craig lists Arnall as an Independent Labour candidate.
thumb|120px|Touche