Islington South and Finsbury MP Emily Thornberry has rubbished the Liberal Democrats’ approach to Brexit after a rival candidate claimed her majority would “crumble before her eyes”.

Terry Stacy, the prospective Lib Dem candidate, said the June 8 poll was the “Brexit election”. He claimed Mrs Thornberry’s constituents – who voted by 72% to remain in the EU in last year’s referendum – would punish her after she voted in favour of leaving earlier this year.

But Mrs Thornberry told the Gazette this morning: “With Brexit, my constituency voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU. The difficulty is the country decided we had to leave. The Labour Party has spent the last 10 months trying to ensure this government doesn’t go through with its extreme Brexit.

“The Lib Dems, on the other hand, have shot their bolt. They are simply against Brexit no matter what. We are going to leave the EU. The question is, how do we make it work for the whole country, and not just an extreme part of the 52 per cent?”

In the 2015 election, Mrs Thornberry won with 22,547 votes: a majority of 12,708.

She added: “I have represented this constituency for 12 years. It has been the greatest honour of my life. I would like very much to continue. I’m not taking anything for granted and I hope my constituency re-elect me.”