The roar was deafening as Jeremy Corbyn walked on to the main Pyramid Stage of Glastonbury. The 68-year-old political veteran’s appearance was one of the most hotly anticipated moments of the weekend – an extraordinary turn a year after he cancelled his 2016 festival appearance following the vote for Brexit and as uncertainty mounted about his future as Labour leader.
Facing the tens of thousands of festivalgoers who had gathered to see him, Corbyn, arriving on stage with Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis, beamed and waited for the chants of his name to die down. “Michael, you brought the spirit of music, of love, of ideas, and of great messages,” he said, giving Eavis a copy of the Labour manifesto.
“And if you see that far,” he said to the crowd, “look at the wall that surrounds this festival. There’s a message for president Donald Trump. You know what it says? Build bridges, not walls.” The cheering erupted again.
“Politics is actually about everyday life. It’s about all of us: what we dream, what we want, what we achieve and what we want for everybody else.
“The commentariat got it wrong, the elites got it wrong. Politics is about the lives of all of us. The wonderful campaign I was a part of and led, brought people back to politics because they believed there was something on offer for them.”
Introducing him, Eavis referred to Corbyn as the “hero of the hour”.
Tens of thousands gathered to watch the mid-afternoon speech – a crowd of a size typically reserved for Glastonbury headliners. Almost all those present were fans, many wearing T-shirts bearing his face or name, and there were dozens of banners of appreciation.
“When Theresa May called the snap election, going back on what she said previously, Corbyn had a right to challenge that,” said Danny Owen, 27. “He’s been challenged by his own party twice and overcame it. He galvanised it and Labour made inroads because of Corbyn and his manifesto. He’s become a figurehead now. He’s relatable.
“People say he’s radical. I don’t think he is. He wants fair wages and outcomes and well-funded social services. The fact people see that as radical is a sad indictment of our society.”
Corbyn’s popularity skyrocketed after he energised young voters and defied political pundits to obliterate the Conservatives’ majority in the general election on June 8. Nowhere has the adoration been more rife than at Glastonbury, where his face adorned T-shirts, leggings, flags, and festivalgoers have been quick to launch into impromptu “Oh, Jeremy Corbyn” chants at the most unlikely occasions: during a silent disco, in the dance area Shangri-La, or in the middle of Radiohead’s headline set.
Speaking to the Guardian after his speech, Corbyn described the cult of personality that had built up around him in recent weeks as “strange, very strange”. “I’m not promoting it,” he said. “I do what I believe in, I try to promote what I believe in and change things in politics, and I’m happy to be a part of that change.”
He said he believed it was the spirit of hope driving his campaign which had caught the imagination of young voters, who had spent the past few years forced into “making difficult and unpalatable choices” thanks to cuts in education grants and introduction of university fees. He called for an end of a society where “we sullenly accept poverty, inequality and the desperation of some people”.
“Young people sometimes get very afraid, they disproportionately suffer mental health stress, young people often suffer quite a lot of things alone and deal with a lot of abuse on their own,” he said.
Corbyn brushed aside suggestions that he may now have to manage unrealistic expectations in voters, especially young voters, to prevent a Corbyn-mania backlash. “We have thought about all of this very clearly, about the sort of things we want to achieve and the sorts of things we can achieve, so we are quite clear about that, “ he said. “But it’s also about changing the political atmosphere.”
He told the Guardian that, having been given the powerful youth mandate, his focus going forward would specifically be on housing affordability and safety. “We’ve got to pressurise the government to ensure that they properly fund every local authority to deal with the crisis of safety in high rise blocks, and indeed low rise blocks , where dangerous materials are being used for cladding and in the building work, but also to have a different attitude towards housing,” said Corbyn.
“We seem to accept that housing should be run by the market whereas in fact housing policy ought to be run on the basis of making sure that everyone has somewhere decent to live.”
Charlie Foster Lewis, 42, a Victoria line tube driver, said: “He was fabulous, friendly, meeting everyone, pulling pints at the bar, taking selfies. He was talking about Grenfell Tower, he said no one should have to live in those conditions.
“He stands for everything, he’s all about the people. We’ve been fans of Corbyn for the past five years. It’s very important and it’s time to engage young people in politics.”
In his speech, the Islington North MP spoke about his vision for a world where people of different cultures and faiths live together in peace. He called for an end to the denigration of refugees and urged leaders to tackle the causes of war and greed.
“There are a number of basic questions we should ask ourselves. Is it right that so many people in our country have no home to sleep in? That so many people are frightened to live where they are, having seen horrors of Grenfell Tower? Is it right that so many people live in poverty in a society surrounded by riches?
“Is it right that European nationals living in this country making a contribution to society don’t know if they’re going to be allowed to remain here? I say they must stay.”
Corbyn was on stage before Run the Jewels, the US rap duo known for their evangelistic leftwing politics and lyrics that touch on social issues.
The group’s Killer Mike campaigned for Bernie Sanders throughout his Democratic leadership campaign, and at a recent concert at London’s Field Day festival threw his support behind Corbyn and encouraged the crowd to vote Labour.
From the Pyramid Stage, Corbyn went directly to the festival’s Left Field, where he delivered another impassioned speech. The crowd cheered as he paid tribute to founder Eavis and talked about the general election result. “People were fed up, absolutely fed up of being told what to think,” he said.
Corbyn was joined on stage by the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, who he described as “shy, retiring, calm and Zen-like – just like me”.
Corbyn said the Labour party had suffered an “onslaught of media abuse” during the election campaign. “The stuff that Diane Abbott has had to put up with, no one should ever have to put up with,” he said.
Younger voters, he said, played a big part in the general election result. “I think social media has had a very big part this this,” he said. “In changing that orthodoxy, a lot of other things become possible, and that’s what engaged so many younger people, as well as older people who returned to politics after being driven away by the cynicism of the past.”
He also emphasised his commitment to environmental causes and, referring to America’s withdrawal from the Paris climate change agreement, Corbyn said he would “not be afraid to pick up the phone and say ‘Donald, you’re wrong’”.
Corbyn said his Gastonbury plans were relatively low-key, “listen to a bit of music, meet up with lots of friends who have been texting me to say they’re here”.
Asked after his speech what the naughtiest thing he’d ever done at a festival was, Corbyn remained coy. “Oh it’s far too bad, I can’t possibly tell you,” he said, before adding: “Where’s the nearest wheat field?”
