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==Personal life==
==Personal life==
In 1974 Corbyn married Jane Chapman; the pair divorced in 1985. He later married Chilean exile Claudia Bracchita in 1987, with whom he had three sons. Following a disagreement over whether or not to send their children to a [[Grammar schools debate|grammar school]], the couple divorced in 1999, although Corbyn later said that he continued to "get on very well" with his ex-wife.<ref name="guardian"/><ref name="mirror.co.uk">{{cite news |url= http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/who-jeremy-corbyn-everything-you-5818431 |title=Who is Jeremy Corbyn? Everything you need to know about Labour's most left-wing leadership hopeful |first=Dan |last=Bloom |work=[[Daily Mirror]] |date=3 June 2015 |publisher=[[Trinity Mirror]] |location=[[London, UK|London]] |issn=9975-9950 |oclc=223228477 |accessdate=20 June 2015}}</ref> In 2015, Corbyn married his long-term domestic partner Laura Alvarez.
In 1974 Corbyn married Jane Chapman; the pair divorced in 1985. He later married Chilean exile Claudia Bracchita in 1987, with whom he had three sons. Following a disagreement over whether or not to send their children to a [[Grammar schools debate|grammar school]] (Corbyn opposes segregation at such a young age), the couple divorced in 1999, although Corbyn later said that he continued to "get on very well" with his ex-wife.<ref name="guardian"/><ref name="mirror.co.uk">{{cite news |url= http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/who-jeremy-corbyn-everything-you-5818431 |title=Who is Jeremy Corbyn? Everything you need to know about Labour's most left-wing leadership hopeful |first=Dan |last=Bloom |work=[[Daily Mirror]] |date=3 June 2015 |publisher=[[Trinity Mirror]] |location=[[London, UK|London]] |issn=9975-9950 |oclc=223228477 |accessdate=20 June 2015}}</ref> In 2015, Corbyn married his long-term domestic partner Laura Alvarez.


In an interview in 2014, Corbyn described himself as "parsimonious", saying that: "I don’t spend a lot of money, I lead a very normal life, I ride a bicycle and I don’t have a car". He is a [[vegetarian]], [[teetotaller]], and currently resides in [[Finsbury Park, London|Finsbury Park]].
In an interview in 2014, Corbyn described himself as "parsimonious", saying that: "I don’t spend a lot of money, I lead a very normal life, I ride a bicycle and I don’t have a car". He is a [[vegetarian]], [[teetotaller]], and currently resides in [[Finsbury Park, London|Finsbury Park]].

Revision as of 09:00, 25 July 2015

Jeremy Corbyn
MP
Member of Parliament
for Islington North
Incumbent
Assumed office
9 June 1983
Preceded byMichael O'Halloran
Majority21,194 (43.0%)
Personal details
Born
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn

(1949-05-26) 26 May 1949 (age 75)
Chippenham, England, UK
Political partyLabour
Spouse(s)Jane Chapman (1974–1985)
Claudia Bracchitta (1987–1999)
Laura Alvarez (2015–present)
Children3
WebsiteOfficial website

Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (born 26 May 1949) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North since 1983.[1] A member of the Socialist Campaign Group, the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, Amnesty International, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Stop the War Coalition, he is a candidate in the 2015 Labour Party leadership election.[2]

Early life

Corbyn was born in Chippenham, Wiltshire, the younger brother of weather forecaster Piers Corbyn and the son of David Corbyn, an electrical engineer and expert in power rectifiers. His parents were peace campaigners who met during the Spanish Civil War.[3] He attended Adams' Grammar School in Newport, Shropshire. After leaving school at 16, he spent two years doing Voluntary Service Overseas in Jamaica before becoming a full-time organiser for the National Union of Public Employees.[4] He also worked as an official with the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers, was as a member of a public health authority and in 1974 was elected to Haringey Council, where he served for a decade.[3][5] Corbyn also worked on Tony Benn's unsuccessful 1981 campaign to become Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

Member of Parliament

Corbyn was elected as the Member of Parliament for Islington North in 1983. He immediately joined the Socialist Campaign Group, marking him out as one of the more left-wing Labour MPs, and sat on the London Regional Select Committee. Shortly after his election he began writing a weekly column in the Morning Star. Corbyn was re-elected seven times, most recently in 2015, where he gained 60.24% of the vote and a majority of 21,194.[6]

Political views

Corbyn is a self-described socialist and anti-poverty campaigner. He has campaigned strongly against tuition fees in England, the creation of academies and private finance initiative schemes. He also supports the renationalisation of railways, the introduction of a living wage, a higher rate of income tax for the wealthiest in society, and an increase in corporation tax to fund public services. Corbyn has also stated his preference for Britain to become a republic, but that he recognises that is not a major political issue at the present time.[7] In 2015, he fiercely condemned Chancellor George Osborne's Budget as "an attack on the poorest in the country".

Corbyn was a well-known campaigner against Apartheid in South Africa, serving on the National Executive of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, and was arrested In 1984 for protesting outside South Africa House.[7] He is also a member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, regularly campaigning against what he regards as Apartheid in Israel.[8] Corbyn has been a long-standing supporter of a United Ireland and controversially invited Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams to London in 1984. A second meeting in 1996 was cancelled following pressure from the Labour Party.[9][10][11] He has also been strongly criticised by both Labour and Conservative MPs for holding meetings with members of the IRA in the Houses of Parliament to discuss topics such as conditions in Northern Irish prisons and a potential IRA ceasefire.[12][13]

Corbyn speaking at the People's Assembly Demonstration in 2014

He is a prominent member of Amnesty International, and campaigned for the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to be put on trial. Corbyn and fellow MP Robert Kilroy-Silk were reported to have scuffled in the House of Commons Division Lobby over the issue in 1985, but Kilroy-Silk denied reports he punched Corbyn.[14][15] He is also a Venezuelan solidarity activist and has advocated for the rights of the forcibly-removed Chagossians to return to the British Indian Ocean Territory.[16]

Corbyn has been a long-time campaigner on animal rights issues. He was one of the first signatories to Tony Banks' "Pigeon Bombs" Early Day Motion and in 2015 signed a motion calling for a ban on the importation of foie gras into the United Kingdom and was a sponsor of a motion opposing the Yulin Dog Meat Festival.[17][18][19] He also sponsored two Early Day Motions relating to the McLibel case.[20]

In 2013, Corbyn co-signed a letter which was published in The Guardian newspaper that indicated his support for the People's Assembly Against Austerity.[21] He has also been a prominent sponsor of the March for Homes.[22] In 2013, Corbyn attended a conference calling for dialogue between the UK and Argentine Governments on the question of Falkland Island sovereignty.

Rebellion

During the most recent Labour Government, between 1997 and 2010, Corbyn was the most rebellious Labour MP, regularly defying three-line whips. In the 2005–2010 Parliament alone he defied the whip 238 times, approximately 25% of all votes.[23] He was one of sixteen signatories to an open letter to Ed Miliband in January 2015 calling for Labour to make a radical commitment to opposing further austerity, to take rail franchises back into public ownership, and to strengthen collective bargaining arrangements ahead of that year's general election, in which Labour was defeated.[24]

Expenses

During the 2009 expenses scandal, Corbyn was revealed as claiming one of the lowest amount of expenses of any Member of Parliament. In 2010 he claimed the smallest amount of all 650 MPs; in an interview with the Islington Gazette he said: "I am a parsimonious MP...I think we should claim what we need to run our offices and pay our staff but be careful because it's obviously public money...in a year, rent for the (constituency) office in Finsbury Park is about £12,000 to £14,000."[25] He rents his constituency office from the Ethical Property Company.

Political organisations

Corbyn is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Chagos Islands, Chair of the APPG on Mexico, Vice-Chair of the APPG on Latin America and Vice-Chair of the APPG on Human Rights. He is also a Member of the Bolivia, Britain-Palestine, Great Lakes, Cheese, Dalits, Cycling, International Parliamentary Union and Traveller Law Reform APPGs. He is a patron of Centre 404, a service for those with educational disabilities, the Islington Music Forum, the Refugee Therapy Centre and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. He is also Chair of the Dalit Solidarity Campaign and "Liberation", an anti-racist and anti-imperialist organisation. He is the joint president of the Islington Pensioners Forum, and is a trustee of the Socialist Campaign Group, Hanley Crouch Community Association and the Highbury Vale and Blackstock Trust.[5]

Corbyn speaking at the 'No More War' event in Parliament Square in 2014

As a long-standing trade unionist, Corbyn is a member of a number of trade union groups in Parliament. He is sponsored by several trade unions, including Unison, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers and Unite the Union. He is also a committed anti-fascist, having spoken at the Unite Against Fascism and Trades Union Congress anti-British National Party rally in December 2001, and also speaking at the organisation's annual conference in 2007.

Stop the War Coalition

Corbyn was elected as the Chair of the Stop the War Coalition in 2001 after his opposition to the War in Afghanistan. He was later fiercely opposed to the Iraq War in 2003, and spoke at dozens of anti-war rallies in Britain and overseas. In 2006, Corbyn was one of 12 Labour MPs to support Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party's call for an inquiry into the Iraq War.[26] He is strongly opposed to weapons of mass destruction and a long-time supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, being one of its three vice-chairs.

2015 Labour leadership bid

Corbyn speaking at the Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival and Rally in 2015
Main article: Labour Party (UK) leadership election, 2015

Following Labour's defeat in the 2015 general election on 7 May, Ed Miliband resigned as Leader of the Labour Party. On 2 June, it was reported in various media sources that Corbyn was considering entering the subsequent leadership election. The following day, Corbyn confirmed to his local newspaper, the Islington Tribune, that he would be standing in the election, on a "clear anti-austerity platform". Corbyn added: "This decision to stand is in response to an overwhelming call by Labour Party members who want to see a broader range of candidates and a thorough debate about the future of the party. I am standing to give Labour Party members a voice in this debate".[27]

It was widely predicted that Corbyn would struggle to reach the required threshold of 35 nominations from Labour MPs, but he was able to secure a place on the ballot just minutes before the deadline closed on 15 June.[28] Following a series of televised and radio debates with the other three candidates – Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Shadow Care Minister Liz Kendall – Corbyn went on to gain the support of the UK's biggest trade union, Unite, and received the highest number of nominations from Constituency Labour Parties, winning over 100 by the end of July.[29][30] A YouGov poll of Labour Party members subsequently projected him to win the contest, with 43% of first preferences and 53% of the final redistributed total.[31]

Corbyn's leadership bid has been the subject of fierce debate within the Labour Party. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair stated publicly that Labour would lose an election if they moved to the left, and that Labour Party members who felt their heart told them to vote for Corbyn should "get a transplant".[32] Corbyn responded by saying that Blair should wait for the release of the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War before passing any comment.[33] Former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott criticised Blair's comments, saying that, contrary to what Blair had said, Corbyn's election "would not be a disaster" and that the Labour Party was "about the heart as well as the head".[34] The Independent has noted that many of Corbyn's policies are popular with the general public.[35]

Awards

In 2013, Corbyn was awarded the Gandhi International Peace Award.[36] In the same year, he received the Grassroot Diplomat Initiative Honouree for his "ongoing support for a number of non-government organisations and civil causes".[37] Corbyn has won the Parliamentary "Beard of the Year Award" a record five times, as well as the official Beard of the Year, having previously described his beard as "a form of dissent" against New Labour.[38]

Personal life

In 1974 Corbyn married Jane Chapman; the pair divorced in 1985. He later married Chilean exile Claudia Bracchita in 1987, with whom he had three sons. Following a disagreement over whether or not to send their children to a grammar school (Corbyn opposes segregation at such a young age), the couple divorced in 1999, although Corbyn later said that he continued to "get on very well" with his ex-wife.[4][39] In 2015, Corbyn married his long-term domestic partner Laura Alvarez.

In an interview in 2014, Corbyn described himself as "parsimonious", saying that: "I don’t spend a lot of money, I lead a very normal life, I ride a bicycle and I don’t have a car". He is a vegetarian, teetotaller, and currently resides in Finsbury Park.

Notes

  1. ^ "Jeremy Corbyn MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  2. ^ "Labour's leadership contest". www.labour.org.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  3. ^ a b Pickard, Jim (23 July 2015). "Leftwing outsider Jeremy Corbyn moves to Labour's centre stage". FT.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  4. ^ a b Hattenstone, Simon. "Jeremy Corbyn: 'I don't do personal'". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  5. ^ a b "About me - Jeremy Corbyn MP". jeremycorbyn.org.uk. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  6. ^ "Jeremy Corbyn MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  7. ^ a b Proctor, Kate (13 June 2015). "Labour MPs switch from Andy Burnham to left-winger Jeremy Corbyn in leadership race". Newcastle Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  8. ^ "MPs, actors, authors and musicians among 21,000 demanding arms embargo on Israel". Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  9. ^ "Jeremy Corbyn". politics.co.uk. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  10. ^ "Find Your MP – Islington North – Jeremy Corbyn". BBC News.
  11. ^ FRANK MILLAR (26 September 1996). "Adams cancels Commons visit as Labour criticises Corbyn". irishtimes.com. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  12. ^ The Glasgow Herald, pg17, 17 Dec 1984
  13. ^ "Speaker to investigate reports of 'IRA men at Westminster' (From Herald Scotland)". heraldscotland.com. Friday 22 November 1996. Retrieved 23 July 2015. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ "Outspoken host with the silver touch apologises, but is it going to save him? - Wales Online". walesonline.co.uk. 10 January 2004. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  15. ^ Robert Chalmers (Sunday 06 June 2004). "Robert Kilroy-Silk: Here comes trouble - Profiles - People - The Independent". The Independent. London: INM. ISSN 0951-9467. OCLC 185201487. Retrieved 23 July 2015. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ "British MP Jeremy Corbyn Speaks out for Venezuela". teleSUR English. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  17. ^ "Early Day Motion 1255 - Pigeon Bombs". UK Parliament. 21 May 2004. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  18. ^ "Early Day Motion 136 - Importation of Foie Gras". UK Parliament. 16 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  19. ^ "Early day motion 134 - Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2015". UK Parliament. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  20. ^ "McLibel Case - The story of two ordinary vegetarians taking on the giant McDonald's in London Court". jivdaya.org. 2011 [last update]. Retrieved 23 July 2015. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  21. ^ "Letters: People's Assembly Against Austerity". The Guardian. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  22. ^ "Sponsors". marchforhomes.org. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  23. ^ "Voting Record for Jeremy Corbyn MP, Islington North (10133)". The Public Whip. 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  24. ^ Eaton, George (26 January 2015). "The Labour left demand a change of direction - why their intervention matters". New Statesman. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  25. ^ Hussein, Meyrem (8 December 2010). "Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn is the country's lowest expenses claimer". Islington Gazette. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  26. ^ "Labour MPs who rebelled on Iraq". BBC News. 31 October 2006. Retrieved 31 October 2006.
  27. ^ "Labour leadership: Jeremy Corbyn enters race". BBC News Online. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  28. ^ "Labour leadership: Jeremy Corbyn makes it on to ballot". BBC News. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  29. ^ "Unite backs Jeremy Corbyn for Labour leader". BBC News. 5 July 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  30. ^ http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/19/labour-leadership-andy-burnham-jeremy-corbyn-shadow-cabinet
  31. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-set-to-win-labour-leadership-contest-poll-finds-10406172.html
  32. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tony-blair-labour-could-lose-two-more-elections-if-it-drifts-further-to-the-left-10408162.html
  33. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-hits-straight-back-at-tony-blair-his-big-problem-is-were-still-waiting-for-the-chilcot-report-to-come-out-10406888.html
  34. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/john-prescott-tells-tony-blair-it-is-iraq-not-jeremy-corbyn-or-ed-miliband-that-has-stopped-people-voting-for-labour-10409669.html
  35. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-jeremy-corbyn-policies-that-most-people-actually-agree-with-10407148.html
  36. ^ "GULLIVER: Jeremy Corbyn - An MP with 'Gandhian values'". Camden New Journal. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  37. ^ "Grassroot Diplomat Who's Who". Grassroot Diplomat. 15 March 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  38. ^ Malvern, Jack (10 January 2002). "Beards – Diary". The Times.
  39. ^ Bloom, Dan (3 June 2015). "Who is Jeremy Corbyn? Everything you need to know about Labour's most left-wing leadership hopeful". Daily Mirror. London: Trinity Mirror. ISSN 9975-9950. OCLC 223228477. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
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