Corbynmania

Corbynmania is enthusiastic support for Jeremy Corbyn, the veteran socialist who was elected as leader of the Labour Party in 2015.

A rally in Bristol during Corbyn's leadership campaign in 2016. Corbyn returned to College Green in 2019 for an election rally but his reception was then less enthusiastic.[1]
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Jeremy Corbyn
Backbencher
Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Labour Party
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Jeremy Corbyn was encouraged to stand in the leadership election which followed the resignation of Ed Miliband after the Labour party failed to win the general election of 2015. Initially, he was viewed as a token candidate for the left wing of the party and was not expected to win because he had been a maverick during the period of Tony Blair 's New Labour and so had little experience of ministerial government. However, his authentic, informal style and radical policies appealed to many of the young new members who had joined after the membership fee had been reduced to £3.[2] Hundreds of supporters turned out to hear him speak at the hustings across the nation and their enthusiastic reception and support for him was dubbed "Corbynmania" by the press.[3]

Jonathan Dean characterised Corbymania as a political fandom, comparable with the enthusistic followings of popular media stars and other modern politicians such as Bernie Sanders and Justin Trudeau. Specific features included use of the #jezwecan hashtag, attendance at rallies and the posting of pictures such as selfies on social media. Artistic, merchandising and other activity consolidated and spread this fannish enthusiasm. This included a “Jeremy Corbyn for Prime Minister” (JC4PM) tour by celebrities such as Charlotte Church, Jeremy Hardy and Maxine Peake; a Corbyn superhero comic book; mash-ups and videos. Corbyn's personal qualities were earnest and modest and these inspired warm emotions such as devotion and loyalty. These were seen as cultish by critics such as Margaret Beckett who said in 2016 that the Labour Party had been turned into the "Jeremy Corbyn Fan Club".[4]

A chant of "Oh, Jeremy Corbyn" was adopted as an anthem or chorus by his supporters. Sung in the style of a football chant to the tune of a riff from "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes, it attracted especial attention at the Glastonbury Festival of 2017, where Corbyn appeared and spoke to the crowds.[5][6]

Labour's performance in the 2018 United Kingdom local elections was weaker than expected and this caused suggestions that Corbynmania had peaked.[7][8] Corbyn stepped down as leader of the Labour Party after its considerable loss in the 2019 United Kingdom general election.

See also

References
  1. John Crace (9 December 2019), "Corbyn plays all the old favourites in Bristol but no one's dancing", The Guardian
  2. Azhar, Mobeen (13 August 2015), Where is Labour's 'Jeremy Corbyn mania' coming from?, BBC
  3. Roe, Kevin (2017), Leadership: Practice and Perspectives, Oxford University Press, pp. 36–37, ISBN 9780198777106
  4. Dean, Jonathan (2017), "Politicising Fandom" (PDF), British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 19 (2): 408–424, doi:10.1177/1369148117701754, ISSN 1369-1481
  5. Shabi, Rachel (20 July 2017), "Corbynmania isn't dangerous – there's irony in those chants", The Guardian
  6. Humphries, Will; Burgess, Kaya (24 June 2017), "Corbynmania rocks the crowd at Glastonbury festival", The Times
  7. Bagehot (4 May 2018), "Sounding the death knell for Corbynmania", The Economist
  8. Sarah Baxter (8 July 2018), "Corbyn plays the patriotic card — but gets a red one", Sunday Times
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