General Election 2019: Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry’s Islington seat ‘at risk’
Labour frontbencher Emily Thornberry is at risk of losing her seat, according to internal party polling.
The Islington South and Finsbury seat has been held by Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, since 2005, and has been viewed as a Labour safe seat. In 2017 she strengthened her majority to 22,547 – more than 50 per cent of the vote.
But according to The Sun, it has been placed on the party’s “at risk” list, owing to Labour’s ambiguous position on Brexit.
Voters are reportedly switching to the Liberal Democrats, who have said they will revoke Article 50 and block Brexit if they win an outright majority.
Thornberry is one of Labour’s most vocal critics of Brexit. She was pictured dressed as the EU flag in the run-up to Labour’s party conference in September.
The party’s position – to negotiate a new Brexit deal with the EU, which will then be subject to a second referendum with an option to Remain – has confused even Thornberry.
During an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain yesterday she said: “I would hope the public would decide to leave, but in the end it’s going to be up to them whether we leave or whether we remain.”
She later corrected her mistake adding: “Sorry, to remain.
“Sorry, it was a slip of the tongue on my part.”
A Labour spokesman declined to comment on polls.
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