Further Information
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 joined 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 its 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, coming fourth 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.
Read more about this topic: Islington North (UK Parliament Constituency)
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