Islington North is an urban constituency in the Borough of Islington in Greater London, located around 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the centre of London. It includes the neighbourhoods of Archway, Finsbury Park, Highbury, Tufnell Park and parts of Holloway. The constituency is densely-populated and developed around the Great North Road (now the A1). The road has existed since mediaeval times but the area was mostly developed during the 19th century. Arsenal Football Club is located in the constituency. Islington North has average levels of wealth; there is some deprivation in Finsbury Park whilst Highbury is more affluent.[3] House prices are higher than the rest of London and more than double the national average.[4]
In general, residents of the constituency are very young and well-educated, and a high proportion work in professional occupations. They are unlikely to be married and have low rates of homeownership.[4]White people made up 62% of the population at the 2021 census, a higher percentage than London as a whole. Around one-third of the White population are of non-British origin, including large Irish and Italian communities.[5]Black people were the largest ethnic minority group at 15% and Asians made up 9% of residents. Most of the constituency is represented by the Labour Party at the local borough council, although Green Party councillors were elected in Highbury. Voters in the constituency overwhelmingly supported remaining in the European Union in the 2016 referendum; an estimated 78% voted to remain compared to the nationwide figure of 48%, making Islington North one of the top fifteen most Remain-supporting constituencies out of 650 across the country.[4]
At the next redistribution of seats by the Representation of the People Act 1948 the constituency was again defined as Tollington, Tufnell and Upper Holloway wards of the Metropolitan Borough of Islington, with boundaries as they existed at the end of 1947.[7][9]
In 1965 local government in Greater London was reorganised, with the formation of London boroughs. The changes were reflected in parliamentary boundaries from 1974. The London Borough of Islington was divided into three constituencies. Islington North was defined as comprising seven wards: Highview, Hillmarton, Hillrise, Junction, Parkway, St. George's and Station.[7][10]
In 1983 the parliamentary representation of Islington was reduced to two constituencies. The new, enlarged, Islington North was formed from ten wards of the borough as they existed in February 1983. These were Gillespie, Highbury, Highview, Hillrise, Junction, Mildmay, Quadrant, St. George's, Sussex and Tollington wards.[11]
In 1997 there were only slight boundary changes, with the constituency defined as the same ten wards with their boundaries as they existed on 1 June 1994.[12]
From 2010 until 2022, the constituency comprised the following eight electoral wards: Finsbury Park, Highbury East, Highbury West, Hillrise, Junction, Mildmay, St. George's and Tollington.[13]
These boundaries have been considerably changed since 1970, when Islington returned three MPs and shared another with Hackney. This reflects the depopulation of central London on a lowering of adult occupancy of households and the local authority has replaced tower blocks. The core of the constituency was the area north of Seven Sisters Road and Camden Road. At the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies begun in 2012 the seat was approximately 1,300 electors below the electoral quota and the highest concentration of elector density nationally. The criteria of successive reviews emphasise equal electorates as well as restricting seats to one or, if unavoidable, two local authority areas.[15]
The constituency was held by the Labour Party without interruption from a by-election in 1937 until former Labour member and leader Jeremy Corbyn won it as an independent in 2024. From 1945 to 2019, Labour's smallest majority was 10.4% of the vote, in a by-election in 1969, on a very low turnout.
As a Labour candidate, Corbyn had his smallest majority (15.3%) in 1983, when he was first elected, and his largest (60.5%) in 2017, when he was leader of the party. In the ten elections since Corbyn began representing the constituency, the Conservatives have finished in second place five times while the Liberal Democrats have also been runners up on five occasions. The 2015 result made the seat the 26th safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.[16]
In the 2016 referendum to leave the European Union, the constituency voted remain by 78.4%. This was the fifth highest support for remain for a constituency.[17]
A short film was made about the 1969 by-election. This highlighted the importance of the local Irish community, the poor local housing conditions (the opening line talks of "a crowded, crumbling constituency") and the relatively low turn-outs at previous elections. The film is now available through British Pathé Archive.[43]
Michael O'Halloran, elected Labour MP for Islington North in 1969, was the subject of an investigation in the early-1970s by The Sunday Times newspaper. They highlighted his background with a local building company and the local Irish community and queried the tactics of his supporters during his selection as candidate.
O'Halloran defected to the SDP in September 1981, as did both of the other Islington MPs. However the Boundary Commission cut the number of constituencies in Islington from three to two. O'Halloran sought selection as the SDP candidate for the revised Islington North constituency but the local SDP association selected John Grant, then-SDP (elected as Labour) MP for Islington Central, as their official candidate. In February 1983, O'Halloran resigned his membership of the SDP and sat in Parliament as an "Independent Labour" member, supporting the Parliamentary Labour Party. Despite this, he failed to regain the Labour Party nomination for the 1983 general election and he was defeated by the new Labour candidate, Jeremy Corbyn, and finished in fourth place with 11.1% of the vote.
Corbyn defeated Paul Boateng for the Labour Party selection. Boateng subsequently became the first Black Cabinet Minister in the UK.
^Redistribution Of Seats Act, 1885. Sixth Schedule. Divisions Of Boroughs. Number, Names, Contents, And Boundaries Of Divisions.
^ abcdYoungs Jr., Frederic A. (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol.I: Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. pp. 743, 746, 749. ISBN0-901050-67-9.
^Representation Of The People Act 1918. Ninth Schedule. Redistribution Of Seats.
^Representation Of The People Act 1948, First Schedule. Parliamentary Constituencies.
^The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970 (S.I. 1970/1674).
^The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983 (S.I. 1983/417).
Iain Dale, ed. (2003). The Times House of Commons 1929, 1931, 1935. Politico's (reprint). ISBN1-84275-033-X.
The Times House of Commons 1945. 1945. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
The Times House of Commons 1950. 1950. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
The Times House of Commons 1955. 1955. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN0-900178-06-X.
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