An extraordinary display of solidarity for Jeremy Corbyn suggests the smear campaign has backfired

Jeremy Corbyn
Fréa Lockley


As The Canary reported, a call went out to show support for Jeremy Corbyn across social media on 2 August. It happened and it was huge – thousands shared #WeAreCorbyn images, comments and memes.

In fact, for several hours the hashtag was trending globally. Although the mainstream media took no notice, and press coverage is filled with anti-Corbyn attacks yet again, the show of support for the Labour leader was extraordinary.

#WeAreCorbyn

From Labour voters to members of the shadow cabinet, thousands joined in the Twitter storm.

Right-wing papers such as the Mail, the Express and the Sun appear intent on portraying a split between shadow chancellor John McDonnell and Corbyn. But this seems far from the truth:

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Labour Party chair Ian Lavery also reminded people of Corbyn’s longstanding fight against oppression:

And other Labour MPs offered support too:

And #WeAreCorbyn trended globally:

Number 1

The response was phenomenal. It was trending at No. 1 on Twitter in the UK and – for several hours – globally:

In the face of continued media attacks and criticism, the hashtag’s ranking on Twitter shows how strong grassroots Labour support really is.

For the many. Not the few.

The tweets showed a range of support for Labour policy under Corbyn. People expressed support for its stance on the rights of sick and disabled people, the NHS, education, and ending the misery caused by austerity. Voters came out in force to share their views.

Meanwhile, many shared this now iconic image of Corbyn:

And others gave their own reasons for believing in Corbyn:

The media seem to want to ignore the fact that many people joined the Labour Party only because Corbyn became leader. So, while some critics have argued that this support is simply a ‘cult of personality‘ trend, they’ve ignored something vital.

It’s hard, if not impossible, to imagine an “I support Theresa May” hashtag trending on Twitter. While people march in their thousands to support the NHS, no one marches to defend Tory cuts or austerity. But no matter how hard the right-wing press come after Corbyn, his grassroots support grows even stronger.

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Featured image via Garry Knight/Flickr

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