Although the majority of the MPs who helped to get Jeremy Corbyn on the ballot paper have remained mysteriously silent since a poll predicted that he is on course to be the next Labour leader, Corbyn can at least count on support from one well-known name
The Silk actress Maxine Peake has voiced her support for Corbyn. Writing on her website last week, Peake labelled Corbyn ‘our only beacon of hope to get the Labour Party back on track’:
‘For me Jeremy Corbyn is our only beacon of hope to get the Labour Party back on track, get the electorate back in touch with politics and save this country from the constant mindless bullying of the vulnerable and poor. Aspirational? Surely we should all aspire that everyone living in this country has the right to a decent quality of life.’
However, given that Peake is an ardent socialist — and former member of the Young Communist League — the endorsement is likely to fuel concerns that Corbyn is too left-wing.
Still, Peake is at least doing her bit to fight the party that is supposed to be Labour’s main opponent. In an interview in this week’s Big Issue, the Manchester-based actress says George Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse ‘makes my stomach flip a bit’, adding that she is annoyed they have a mayor when they voted not to have one. She says Manchester no longer feels like the ‘progressive city’ it used to be:
‘Manchester used to pride itself as a progressive city. Now it doesn’t feel that we’re looking after our people. If this is going to be the price we pay for being some big industrial stronghold, I don’t know if that’s the Manchester I want to be in. London is going to become some sort of gated city soon where only the privileged can afford to live. I would hate Manchester to become the same.’
If the polls are accurate, at least Corbyn will soon be on hand to help make sure Manchester doesn’t become too much of a prosperous ‘industrial stronghold’.
Update: Peake joined Corbyn on the campaign trail over the weekend:
@Corbyn4Leader Jeremy Corbyn and Maxine Peake spreading a message of hope in Manchester yesterday!! #jezwecan pic.twitter.com/52mi815MnO
— Paula (@natvanflo) July 26, 2015
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