Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed he will stand against the party he once led.
He will contest his Islington North seat, which he has held since 1983, as an independent candidate in the general election on 4 July, BBC reported.
Speaking to his local Islington Tribune newspaper, he said he would be "a voice for equality, democracy and peace".
Corbyn was suspended from the parliamentary Labour Party in 2020 - when in response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission report into the party’s handling of anti-Semitism complaints, he suggested that the scale of the problem had been "dramatically overstated" by opponents.
Labour will announce its candidate to replace Corbyn in his north London seat on 1 June, BBC added.
Meanwhile, The Mirror reported that former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been expelled from Labour after he announced he will run as an independent candidate at the General Election in July.
The move comes as Labour shortlisted candidates to replace Corbyn in Islington North after he was formally blocked last year from standing as a party candidate for the first time since 1983. The decision by Corbyn - who continued to be a Labour member - has led to him being expelled as a party member, The Mirror said.
The veteran left-winger vowed to be "an independent voice for equality". He said: "I am here to represent the people of Islington North on exactly the same principles that I've stood by my whole life: social justice, human rights and peace.”
In a dig at his successor Keir Starmer, Corbyn, according to The Mirror, said he would defend a "genuine alternative to the corrupt years of this Tory government". He said he would fight for rent controls and the abolition of the controversial two-child benefit limit - a policy which has caused deep divisions in Labour.
According to the Independent, at the last general election in 2019, Corbyn won the Islington North seat for Labour with a share of the vote of more than 64 per cent. The Lib Dems, who have named Vikas Aggarwal as their candidate for the seat, came second.
The size of Corbyn’s majority had made the seat one of the safest for Labour in the country.
The Independent recalled that earlier this week, Labour MP John McDonnell said Corbyn would still have “a lot of very personal support” if he stood as an independent - he also said he hoped Labour leader Keir would allow him to return as a Labour candidate.
It’s also believed that discontent over Labour leader's stance on the war in Gaza could boost his vote.
However, a group of more than 100 local Labour party members who oppose Corbyn say they are “confident” he does not hold the support of party voters.