Jeremy Corbyn has announced he is standing as an independent candidate in Islington North.

It ends months of speculation about the former Labour leader's political future after he was suspended from the party and effectively barred from standing for it again, Sky News reported. 

Corbyn told the Islington Tribune that he would fight to retain a seat he has represented for 40 years, adding: "We have to stand up and defend our rights."

Appealing to life-long Labour voters, 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."

He went on to say that "these principles are needed now more than ever before", vowing to defend "a genuine alternative to the corrupt years of this Tory government".