Islington North () is a

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

since

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...

. He served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition from 2015 to 2020. Corbyn had the

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

removed on 29 October 2020 and has subsequently sat as an Independent. He was readmitted to the Labour Party on 17 November 2020, but the whip has not been restored. The constituency was established for the 1885 general election.

Political history

The constituency has elected a Labour Party candidate at each election since a by-election in 1937. Since then the smallest majority was 10.4% of the vote, in a by-election in 1969, on a very low turnout. The MP since 1983, Jeremy Corbyn, had his smallest majority (15.3%) in

and his largest (60.5%) in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. In the ten elections during Corbyn began representing the constituency, the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

have finished in second place five times while the Liberal Democrats have also been runners up on five occasions. The

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

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.

Boundaries

1885–1918

The seat was created by the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

, as one of four divisions of the new

parliamentary borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

of Islington. The constituency was defined in the legislation as consisting of the single

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

Upper Holloway Upper Holloway is a district in the London Borough of Islington, London, centred on the upper part of Holloway Road and Junction Road, London, Junction Road. It is served by the Overground at Upper Holloway Station and the Northern Line at Arch ...

of the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

. The ward was one of eight used in the election of Islington

vestrymen A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

under the

Metropolis Management Act 1855 The Metropolis Management Act 1855 (18 & 19 Vict. c.120) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the Metropolitan Board of Works, a London-wide body to co-ordinate the construction of the city's infrastructure. The Act al ...

1918–1950

Under the next redistribution of seats by the

Representation of the People Act 1918 The Representation of the People Act 1918 was an Act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The Act extended the franchise in parliamentary elections, also ...

constituencies in the

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

were defined in terms of wards of the

metropolitan boroughs A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan ...

created in 1900. Islington North comprised three wards of the

Metropolitan Borough of Islington Islington was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in London, England. It was an ancient parish within the county of Middlesex, and formed part of The Metropolis from 1855. The parish was transferred to the County of London in 1889 and became ...

: Tollington, Tufnell and Upper Holloway.

1950–1974

At the next redistribution of seats by the

Representation of the People Act 1948 The Representation of the People Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the law relating to parliamentary and local elections. It is noteworthy for abolishing plural voting for parliamentary elections, including ...

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

was reorganised, with the formation of

London borough The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at ...

s. The changes were reflected in parliamentary boundaries from 1974. The

London Borough of Islington The London Borough of Islington ( ) is a London borough in Inner London. Whilst the majority of the district is located in north London, the borough also includes a significant area to the south which forms part of central London. Islington has ...

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, which is the smallest constituency in the UK by area, covers the northern half of the

, which includes the areas of Holloway,

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...

Tufnell Park Tufnell Park is an area in north London, England, in the London boroughs of Islington and Camden. The neighborhood is served by Tufnell Park tube station on the Northern Line. History Origins and boundary ;Medieval and later manor Tufnell ...

and Archway. The constituency now comprises eight

electoral wards The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ward is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil parishes and borough and distri ...

: Finsbury Park, Highbury East, Highbury West, Hillrise, Junction, Mildmay, St. George's and Tollington. 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 block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently ...

s. The core of the constituency was the area north of Seven Sisters Road and Camden Road. At , it is the smallest UK Parliamentary constituency. At the

Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies The Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies was undertaken between 2000 and 2007 by the four boundary commissions for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the UK Parliament. The changes for England, Wales and Northern I ...

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.

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

* Craig lists Arnall as an

Independent Labour An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

candidate. Sir George Alexander Touche, 1st Baronet in 1915

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1880s

Further information

A short film was made about the 1969 by-election. This highlighted the importance of the local

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

community, the poor local housing conditions (the opening line talks of "a crowded, crumbling constituency") and the relatively low turn-outs at previous elections. The film is now available through British Pathé Archive. Michael O'Halloran, elected Labour MP for Islington North in 1969, was the subject of an investigation in the early-1970s by ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' newspaper. They highlighted his background with a local building company and the local Irish community and queried the tactics of his supporters during his selection as candidate. O'Halloran defected to the SDP in September 1981, as did both of the other Islington MPs. However the

Boundary Commission A boundary commission is a legal entity that determines borders of nations, states, constituencies. Notable boundary commissions have included: * Afghan Boundary Commission, an Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission, of 1885 and 1893, delineated the no ...

cut the number of constituencies in Islington from three to two. O'Halloran sought selection as the SDP candidate for the revised Islington North constituency but the local SDP association selected John Grant, then-SDP (elected as Labour) MP for Islington Central, as their official candidate. In February 1983, O'Halloran resigned his membership of the SDP and sat in Parliament as an "Independent Labour" member, supporting the Parliamentary Labour Party. Despite this, he failed to regain the Labour Party nomination for the 1983 general election and he was defeated by the new Labour candidate, Jeremy Corbyn, and finished in fourth place with 11.1% of the vote. Corbyn defeated

Paul Boateng Paul Yaw Boateng, Baron Boateng (born 14 June 1951) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brent South from 1987 to 2005, becoming the UK's first Black Cabinet Minister in May 2002, when he was appo ...

for the Labour Party selection. Boateng subsequently became the first Black

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

in the UK.

References

External links

Politics Resources
(election results from 1922 onwards)

(election results from 1955 onwards)

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Coord, 51.561, -0.114, type:landmark_region:GB-ISL, display=title Parliamentary constituencies in London Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885 Politics of the London Borough of Islington Jeremy Corbyn