‘We are not beaten’: Islington South & Finsbury MP Emily Thornberry delivers defiant speech after Tories storm election

Labour's Emily Thornberry speaks at Sobell Leisure Centre after winning the Islington South constituency in the 2019 General Picture: Joe Giddens (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

In her own constituency the shadow foreign secretary earned 26,897 votes to see off her Liberal Democrat challenger, Kate Pothalingam, who took 9,569 and Jason Charalambous (Conservatives) on 8,045.

But nationally the Tories romped home with their biggest majority since the days of Margaret Thatcher, leaving re-elected Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn with little choice but to resign, which he says he will do before the next election.

Ms Thornberry - who has long been touted as a future party leader - gave an impassioned address at the Sobell Leisure Centre, in Holloway, where the votes were counted.

She said: "We may be hurting tonight but we are not beaten. We will tell Boris Johnson: 'No. Our fight is not over, our fight is just starting and we will fight with the same spirit that we showed.

"We will fight with the same courage that my friend Jeremy showed, and we will fight with the same unity the party showed throughout the election campaign.'

"And when Boris Johnson tries to drive through extreme right policies on Brexit, on welfare, on workers rights and environmental protections, we will fight him all the way."

She said Boris Johnson was a "gutless, reckless" PM who has "wrapped himself" lie that he's the only person who can deliver Brexit,

There a small uptake in registered voters in Islington South & Finsbury, with an extra 953 people swelling the numbers from 69,536 in 2017 to 70,486. But only 68.1 per cent of those eligible voted.

Talia Hussain (Green Party) got 1,987 votes, Paddy Hannam (Brexit Party) got 1,136 and Lord Sandys of Bunhill (Monster Raving Loony Party) 182.

Ms Thornberry's own vote share has decreased by 3,291 since 2017, when 30,188 voted for her.