Corbyn, Jeremy (1949-…), is a British politician and a former leader of the United Kingdom’s Labour Party. Keir Starmer succeeded Corbyn as the party’s leader in 2020. Corbyn had replaced Harriet Harman as leader in September 2015. Harman had served as acting Labour leader since the resignation of Ed Miliband earlier that year.
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn was born in the Wiltshire market town of Chippenham, in southwestern England, on May 26, 1949. He was raised in Kington St. Michael and the Shropshire hamlet of Pave Lane. Corbyn left school at age 18. He spent two years in the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica with Voluntary Service Overseas, an international development charity. After returning to the United Kingdom, Corbyn became a trade union activist and organizer. A Labour Party member since his school days, Corbyn was elected to London’s Haringey District Council, a local government body, in 1974. Corbyn has represented the London electoral district of Islington North in Parliament since 1983.
Corbyn has long been a strong supporter of social justice and such liberal causes as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights; animal rights; welfare; and clean energy. He has also encouraged the abolition of the British monarchy and the unification of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Corbyn has long opposed nuclear weapons. He also objected to his country’s involvement in the Afghanistan War (2001-2021), and in the Iraq War (2003-2011).
After becoming Labour Party leader in 2015, Corbyn supported raising taxes on wealthy citizens, increasing spending on the National Health Service, and returning the nation’s railways to public ownership. During the Brexit campaign of 2016, he opposed the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union. After Brexit narrowly passed, however, Corbyn pledged to accept the election result and pursue a “soft” Brexit—that is, a departure that retained many of the nation’s ties to Europe. After Labour suffered a defeat in 2019 elections, the party began a search for its next leader. Keir Starmer became Labour leader in April 2020.
