Labour leadership candidate Keir Starmer. Photograph:Dominic Lipinski/PA. (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)
Jeremy Corbyn’s Islington North CLP has backed Sir Keir Starmer to be the next Labour leader over Rebecca Long-Bailey.
Islington North Constituency Labour Party (CLP) also backed Angela Rayner to be deputy leader.
One attendee told the Gazette that Sir Keir came out on top by just three votes, after 138 ballots went his way and 135 were cast for Ms Long-Bailey.
The news may come as a shock to some, as this CLP twice supported Islington North veteran Mr Corbyn to be Labour leader in the 2015 and 2016 elections.
Ms Long-Bailey is seen as the candidate most closely aligned with Mr Corbyn's socialist politics, and its widely believed he backs her for the role, though he's stopped short of publicly endorsing her candidacy.
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