Corbynista tipped for Election battle – against Corbyn
FORMER BBC journalist Paul Mason is being touted as Labour’s best choice to unseat Jeremy Corbyn at the next General Election.
Sources said that Mr Mason, himself a one-time Corbyn supporter, is gaining favour in Sir Keir Starmer’s inner circle to be the official party candidate against the ex-Labour leader.
Mr Corbyn has been barred from standing for Labour in his Islington North seat but is widely expected to declare shortly that he will stand as an Independent.
And last night, one party insider said Mr Mason could be the candidate to take on Mr Corbyn in a seat he has represented for 41 years and where he had a majority of more than 26,000 at the last election.
The source told the Mail on Sunday: ‘It needs to be someone tough enough to take on Corbyn.
‘There’s certainly no objection to Paul in upper Labour circles.’
However he said there were ‘strong arguments’ for fielding a woman or ethnic minority candidate against the former party leader.
Mr Corbyn, who lost the Labour whip in 2020 in a row over antiSemitism within the party, was formally banned from standing as a Labour candidate last year.
But Labour insiders make no secret of the fact that even as an Independent, he would be a formidable opponent in a seat he has represented since 1983.
One said: ‘Whether he won or not, Corbyn would get a creditable performance – but not because of his Left-wing views.
‘It’ll be because of the enormous work that he has put in to the area as a constituency MP.’
Lancashire-born Mr Mason, who was economics editor of both BBC2’s Newsnight and Channel 4 News, has spoken of his past support for Mr Corbyn.
But he also said that ‘Corbynism destroyed itself’ and dismissed claims that the ex-party leader was the victim of a ‘state conspiracy’. However last night, one former senior Islington councillor said it would ‘not be wise’ for Labour to field Mr Mason against Mr Corbyn, saying someone with ‘much more local knowledge’ should be the choice.
Neither Mr Mason nor Mr Corbyn could be reached for comment last night.
But last year, Mr Corbyn defiantly told local Labour Party members that he wanted to stay on as their MP.
A motion thanking him for his ‘commitment and service’ was also reportedly passed by 98 per cent of local members who attended a party meeting.
Labour declined to comment last night.