Look who popped in for a natter and a cup of tea!

JEREMY CORBYN met a constitu- ent with an even longer Labour Party record than his own when he ventured out on to the campaign trail.

A loyal member for 63 years, widow Sue Clark settled down in her living room with the Labour l eader as the two pensioners enjoyed a natter and a cup of tea, surrounded by her cat cushions and the clutter of everyday life.

‘We were just talking about being elderly and what it takes to keep warm and look after yourself in the winter – that sort of thing,’ said Mrs Clark, 84, afterwards.

Mr Corbyn, 70, spent about 45 minutes in her council flat in Islington, North London, on Friday but it was hardly a case of trying to win over a swing voter.

She is a descendant of generations of Scottish miners, while her late cousin Sam McCluskie was not only the firebrand leader of the National Union of Seamen, but also the chairman of the Labour Party in the early 1980s.

‘If you cut me open, you’d find Labour running through me like a stick of rock,’ laughed former pub landlady Mrs Clark. ‘ My vote’s always been in the bag.’

Unsurprisingly, she disagreed with critics who claim that Mr Corbyn might be too old to be contemplating stepping across the threshold of 10 Downing Street. ‘ To me, he seems to be getting younger,’ she declared defiantly. ‘ Well, younger in his attitude, I mean.’

She added: ‘I’ve known him quite a few years now. He’s a lot lighter and more optimistic about things than he used to be.

‘I’m hoping he’ll appeal to the younger people, but with the attitude of people nowadays it’s very hard to say.’

Mrs Clark, whose postman husband Walter died 14 years ago, said she still does voluntary work ‘for the elderly’ although in recent months her mobility has been limited after a fall and broken hip.

Asked to name her main issue during the Election, she said: ‘First thing is to get Brexit sorted out, one way or the other.’

As to whether she was in favour of leaving the EU or not, she replied: ‘I’m going to have to sit on the fence on that’ – echoing the position that many have attributed to Mr Corbyn.