Now I’m off to watch EastEnders
I’ll watch son’s footie in the park, rest my voice… then it’s going to start all over again
JEREMY Corbyn has been MP for Islington North for 34 years (and two days). And you can tell.
What should have been a half-hour interview with the Labour leader turned into an hour as people came in and out of his local cafe looking for selfies, handshakes and a bit of advice.
There were well-wishers, constituents, some workers from across the road… and even a couple of slightly bewildered-looking Dutch tourists.
“We saw him on the television and had to come and say hello,” said one. “We’re here on holiday.” It’s always the case. For a man who has survived on an aggregate of about four hours’ sleep in the last couple of days, Mr Corbyn is extremely patient.
“Are you tired?” asked one of the tourists. “No,” said Mr Corbyn, “I’ve got two days to rest my voice then it’s all going to start again.”
Between selfies, I managed to ask him about what must have been the most extraordinary few days in his political life.
The madness went up a gear on Thursday. “I spent the day in my constituency,” said Mr Corbyn. “I feel guilty about not being here the last six weeks.
HIGHEST
“Obviously I’ve been in and out because I live here. And I’ve done some canvassing in every ward – we got the highest vote ever in this area.
“And the party have been very kind about me not being here. In fact, they were laughing about it.
“They said if it works this well when you’re not here, then don’t bother turning up – just send us a photo in future.”
The 68-year-old is still recovering from Labour’s stunning performance in Thursday’s General Election.
By my calculations, on election day itself and the day after, he slept for about 90 minutes. Tops.
After door-knocking in the morning, he invited people round to his to watch the results come in.
“My team all came to my house, which is unusual as I don’t use my house like an extension of my office,” he tells me.
“I gave them all a blank sheet of paper. They had to write their name on one side, then on the other side predict what our share of the vote would be.
“Karie Murphy got it right. I came second. She won a glass of fizzy apple juice. Mine’s a pretty abstemious house.
“We got some food in from a local Turkish restaurant and we all stayed up and watched the results.
“The exit poll framed everything straight away, but we were still unsure.
“And so we followed that very closely. Everyone was making calls. Everyone was enthusiastic, and pleased with how things unfolded.
“I wanted to get to my count much sooner, but we had to wait – when we did get down there we had a great reception.
“The result locally was amazing and everyone was buoyed up by that.
“We then went home for an hour and a half, slept – and then we were back out again. TV interviews.”
Mr Corbyn’s wife Laura has been on the road with him for much of the campaign.
But the two have not had massive amounts of time together. They managed to squeeze in a quick meal on Friday. Mr Corbyn said: “We went off to the Acoustic restaurant in Newington together. We said to each other, ‘ This could be the last supper we’ll get of our own’.
“Haloumi kebab. Very nice. I’m a non-drinking vegetarian, so celebrations are pretty low-key. As good as it gets is fizzy apple juice.”
Which can make things pretty difficult when everyone is wanting to raise a glass to his success in turning round Labour’s fortunes at the polls.
Mr Corbyn revealed: “On the way home we were walking past the Bedford Tavern. It sounded like there was a birthday party going on in there.
“They said come on in – but I said I didn’t want to intrude on someone’s birthday party. But they said, ‘No, it’s a party for you’.”
Did he join them to be feted? “No,” he admits. “I was tired and wanted to go home.”
Despite the lack of sleep and the punishing
schedule, you get the sense Mr Corbyn is happiest when he is out and about meeting people on the campaign trail.
“There’s been an amazing sense of coming together,” he told me.
“The crowds and rallies all over the country.
“I did 90, but there were many more – and all, pretty much, open-air.
REGRET
“There’s a great feeling about those. My only regret was that some of the campaign stops were quite short.
“You come into a place and then go again pretty quickly.
“I did 90 rallies and visited 60 towns and cities. I wish I could have gone to more. But of course, there were those two tragic breaks in the campaign for Manchester and London Bridge.”
He revealed that since the attack in the capital, just five days before the election, he had been in touch with the partner of one of those who died.
“I feel very sad for her and her family,” he said. “A young girl killed in a totally random act. I’ve just sent a message to her boyfriend.
“He sent me a lovely message back saying she would have been very happy with the result, and that I’d remembered her.”
Mr Corbyn now has a couple of days back at home to rest and get ready for what is to come. Apart from our interview, he said he planned to spend the weekend catching up with things.
He admitted: “I like being out there and meeting people – but it was good to be home for a bit.
“I’ve caught up on things, opened letters. No bills, no nasty surprises. The electric is on, the gas is on, broadband still works.” All good news.
He told me his plans for the next few hours. Saturday lunchtime would be spent going to watch his son coach football in a local park.
And after that? “I’m going to the allotment,” he smiled. “Can’t wait.” And at night? “I’ve lost track of EastEnders,” said Mr Corbyn.
“I’m going to have to do a big catch-up. I understand some bad things have gone on in Walford.
“Sometimes people aren’t very kind to each other on that programme. They could do with being a bit nicer.”