Jeremy Corbyn is on a drive to recruit hundreds more volunteers for his election campaign, believing he is “neck and neck” with his former party.
The ex-Labour leader is running to be an independent in Islington North, a seat he has held for 40 years.
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He has managed to attract around 200 activists a day to help him canvas in the London constituency, but a source close to him told Sky News that this is “not enough to reach every single person before 4 July”.
Mr Corbyn wants to double the number of people on his campaign to compete with Labour’s resources and drum up his support.
The source said there has been “some confusion on the doorstep about Jeremy being an independent” with some of those planning to vote for him under the impression he is still part of Sir Keir Starmer’s party.
“The conversations on the doorstep make a huge difference,” they said.
Mr Corbyn’s campaign team fear there is a risk left-wing supporters assume Mr Corbyn’s high profile means he will retain his seat easily, despite Labour’s lead in the national polls.
However, he is “up against is a massive data machine” – with Labour able to more easily target those who voted for them at the last election, produce leaflets and get the word out on social media, they said.
Mr Corbyn’s allies denied conducting a damage limitation exercise and are confident he can retain the seat, saying their early canvassing suggests he is “neck and neck” with the Labour candidate, while the other parties are “miles behind”
“If we get more volunteers out to inform people that Jeremy is standing as an independent, we will win”, the source said.
Labour have selected local councillor Praful Nargund as their candidate, who has been out campaigning with the likes of former party leader Neil Kinnock.
The plea for…
