Hailing him as “a messiah of modern day politics”, young activists and old communists gave a rapturous welcome to Jeremy Corbyn’s re-election yesterday as Britain’s Labour leader.
“Jeremy! Jeremy! Jeremy!” the crowd chanted as the 67-year-old’s face appeared, live-streamed on a big screen from the main opposition party’s annual conference a few streets away in Liverpool, northwest England.
Two women in their fifties fell into each other’s arms, hugging, with one telling the other: “And on your birthday, too!”
“I am very, very happy,” said Richard Schofield, a 28-year-old activist wearing a customised t-shirt adorned with a picture of a Pokemon creature with Corbyn’s head on it.
“Jeremy Corbyn is a very decent man, an honourable politician. He is such a breath of fresh air.
He is a regular guy, recognises the problems so many people face in this country.”
“That’s why he is perceived a messiah of modern day politics.”
About 750 “Corbynistas” gathered in an arts centre to watch the leadership announcement, a foregone conclusion given the leftist stalwart’s popularity with party members, but one his dedicated supporters were determined to celebrate.
The venue is home to four days of cultural and political events organised by pro-Corbyn campaign group Momentum, and political banners demanding social justice and action against climate change lined the exposed brick walls.
At one stall, activists sold t-shirts saying “I still hate Thatcher”, the Tory prime minister who left office in 1990, as well as books by the late radical MP Tony Benn, one of Corbyn’s mentors.
On the balcony overlooking the hall, a local “socialist choir” sang revolutionary songs.
Downstairs, children learned how to make political banners.
The atmosphere was calm and friendly, but the energy lifted as rumours came through of the defeat of Owen Smith, the challenger put forward by moderate Labour MPs who want Corbyn gone.
Amid the jubilation, there was also irritation that the Labour leader had to spend the last three months fighting for his job.
“All the energy that was sucked into this should have been building into a massive challenge to the Tories who are destroying this country,” said Dee Coombes, a 68-year-old wearing a “Free Palestine” sticker on her jacket.
In the general election last year, Coombes voted for the left-wing Green party, but said she will switch to Labour if the party implements Corbyn’s socialist policies.
“If they continue to destroy him, I will carry on voting for the Green party,” she added.
Corbyn’s speech, with its message of peace and universal education, drew enthusiastic applause.
“He is a very impressive politician,” said Peter Betts, a 68-year-old former member of the Communist party who has a beard not dissimilar to Corbyn’s.
“MPs in London are in a state of shock that the mutineer, the parliamentary rebel is now leading the party.
They don’t understand it!” he laughed.
But after living through the 1980s, when Labour last swung heavily to the left and when it was trounced in the polls, Betts said: “I am concerned that he won’t be massively popular in the country.”
Brian Towers, a 30-year-old IT worker from Manchester, believes Corbyn can win by capitalising on a global appetite for change.
“Bernie Sanders in the USA, or in Greece, Portugal — many people are fed up with the PR-driven politics who are not connected to the real world,” he said.
“Jeremy Corbyn isn’t exactly a marketing PR dream.
But he is a real person, you can talk to him.”
Shadow chancellor of the exchequer, John McDonnell, speaks to journalists after the announcement of Jeremy Corbyn’s victory.
