Have to back you up on this Rhiannon ... my sort of politician and person. Unlikely to be elected as leader of the current Labour Party though - not egocentric or shouty enough and still too much of a true socialist. I would vote for him if I was a member of the Labour Party - which hitherto I'm not.

A short quote from the article:
You have described yourself as parsimonious, haven’t you? “Probably, yes.” How? “Well, I don’t spend a lot of money, I lead a very normal life, I ride a bicycle and I don’t have a car.”

Corbyn seems so distant from modern Labour. Has he ever been close to leaving? “I’ve often been extremely frustrated by the Labour party, particularly over Iraq and, earlier, on Vietnam. Then you think what the Labour party has achieved, and that it is the electoral home to millions of people, so I’m still in it. Always have been. I remember discussing this with Tony Benn many times, and he said: ‘You know, comrade, we’re just in it, aren’t we?’ Tony was a very close friend.”

Not sure how much of a chance he has, but but a hope at least he gets to make an impact in the contest and inspire some debate. It's a sign of the times that someone with his views and dedication is perceived as an anachronism.

I fully expect the shitty papers to give him a hard time too.

You don't even need to be a member. It costs £3 to have say in the outcome. £3 buys you the same say in the leadership election as Liz Kendall, Andy Burnham and the rest of those MPs with their white flags of surrender already bought and paid for. The best £3 most people will ever spend if JC gets the leadership.

Corbyn / Creasy the dream ticket.

It's crazy that The Labour Party having a left wing candidate for leadership is causing such a media hoo-ha! I'm not sure I recall any consternation with any Tories being "too right wing".

Right now. Plenty of applause. Missed most of it as only just got in from work, will watch repeat. Expect on iPlayer too.

Corbyn's campaign is gathering momentum.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33402438

Started out as a rank outsider, but who knows?

Corbyn is far from the radical left-winger he's being portrayed as (particularly by The Telegraph) but he is probably about as far left as it's possible to get today and still be part of the political mainstream.

Which is a sad indictment of modern political discourse as opposed to an endorsement of Corbyn!

That said, I sincerely hope he gets elected as Labour leader as it is only by taking a first step in that direction that the leftward path will ever be rediscovered. By becoming leader, Corbyn could begin shifting the centre. Space to the left of him will open up as a legitimate position and The Greens might even find themselves as part of the mainstream discussion (in the eyes of the media, that is... arguably a large part of the public already takes them fairly seriously).

I am a little concerned though that there simply might not be enough like-minded people left within the Labour Party (at MP level) to form a united shadow cabinet. And with an army of Blairites on his back-benches briefing against him at every opportunity, he might struggle to be an effective party leader.

I'm also concerned that the UK public has already moved so far rightward that they might buy into "loony left" nonsense peddled by The Mail and The Telegraph. I am (sadly) of the opinion that large groups of people can be indoctrinated and manipulated far easier than most assume. I think the ideology of the free market has been forcefully rammed down our throats in subtle (and not so subtle) ways for more than a generation now. And I think that's worked.

Which is why the most terrifying analysis of the UK 2015 election results, for me, was looking at the number of people who voted Tory + UKIP + LibDem (i.e. unambiguously right wing). And that was during an election where the main opposition, Labour, was offering a manifesto that was Centre Right at best.

If Corbyn becomes Labour leader I think there's a strong possibility he could split the party (with a number of the more right wing Labour figures moving into the decimated LibDems, who badly need the influx right now). That may not be a bad thing in the medium-to-long term, but it will guarantee a Tory government for the next decade.

Some worried Blairites now:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/jeremy-corbyn-labour-mps-are-plotting-a-coup-against-the-potential-leader-if-he-is-elected-10399272.html

JC (no not that one) missed out on the Hampstead and Kilburn nomination by one vote last night after comfortably winning the first two rounds. Yvette Cooper picked up enough transfered votes from Burnham and Kendall to pip him in the final count.

That's a good indicator as to where we stand overall.

Please pay your £3 to sign up as a registered supporter. Your vote could be the one that reclaims the party for the left from the Progress sell outs.

Calls today for the election to be abandoned due to infiltration by hard left activists. Bollocks. How about some of the millions who didn't even vote in the last GE or voted Green, like myself, because it was a choice of that or Tory-lite. Plus he's coming over very well on telly, keeping it straight and simple and not getting in a flap. People know where he's coming from and are responding. Benn would be proud of him.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/27/labour-is-now-so-passive-it-might-as-well-be-led-by-an-out-of-office-email?CMP=twt_gu

Mark Steel on the Labour leadership election:

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-last-thing-labour-needs-is-a-leader-like-jeremy-corbyn-who-people-want-to-vote-for-10411466.html

They aren't necessarily of the same vintage or prominence and I haven't read them all but Tony Judt, David Harvey, Ha Joon Chang (a South Korean economist based at Cambridge) and Terry Eagleton are all worth a look.

Chang, in particular, is wonderful at demystifying Economics in order to challenge the neoliberal consensus. And he does it the best way, with easy to understand number crunching. His books 'Economics: A Users' Guide' and '23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism' are seminal.

After you've read these titles (and his prose is immensely clear and engaging), when a Tory or Tory-lite neoliberal tells you that something is 'bad for the economy' on the telly you'll know that it's almost certain that they are talking out of their arse.

Incidentally, I tend to lurk rather than post in this forum. But I have enjoyed reading this thread and finally felt that I had something to contribute.

I'm also not necessarily a fan of Corbyn or all-that politically engaged. My views are that essential services like power, transport, health and education should be under state control while the rest can be left to the vibrancy of the markets.

What does that make me? A 'leftie'? A market socialist? I'm asking because I don't feel that I'm all that radical and fairly MOR in fact.

I just typed in Jeremy Corbyn into news and the amount of articles against him is getting ridiculous. I'm wondering to myself right now whether they have genuine concerns about what he proposes and stands for or are they just scared of losing out on the gravy train they inherited from blair?

I'm guessing the latter.

All that centre left waffle is just bollocks really, they're red tories and may as well just change parties being as they no longer stand for what the Labour party was set up to do in the first place!

I hadn't realised till today that there's also been a deputy leader contest going on too. In a runaway lead is: Tom Watson. Yesssssss.......talk about a dream ticket. Bring it on.

"Anyone but Corbyn"

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/labour-leadership-alastair-campbell-begs-6228390

From 12-00 to 15-00 today, for those wishing to register/join and vote. (The website'd said it was 12-00pm.. I thought that was midnight. When's 12-00am then?)

I read this piece by that old hippie paper International Times this morning .... they keep the flag flying.

The language is clear and simple, with humour - without being overly abusive to anyone.
http://internationaltimes.it/labour-leadership-battle/

Vote Jeremy! Viva la revolution!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-leadership-contest-mark-steel-becomes-latest-leftwinger-to-be-barred-from-voting-10452628.html

and Ken Loach too.

I assume it'll be on Beeb iPlayer when finished. Second feature is an cringey interview with Yvette Cooper. A l m o s t felt sorry for her, trying to explain why people should vote for her not Corbyn. Look at her eyes, listen to the manic voice on edge of stuttering. Kirsty Wark emphasised she was back in third place, but she refused to back out so Burnham could have her votes. In that case... : D ......and, in the first feature, a West Midlands Labour councillor made the point that Blair had lost FOUR MILLION votes. Wonder why, and how many are thinking of returning to the fold. Add on the young and ethnic minority vote. Crunch the numbers of the last electoral turnout, take into account the boundary changes the Tories brought in. Corbyn unelectable? Er, I think not.

The press have finally got him, I'm sure he'll never recover from this being made public!

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/08/11/jeremy-corbyn-signed-a-commons-motion-looking-forward-to-when-an-asteroid-kills-all-humans_n_7971908.html

So Gordon Brown's decided to weigh into the ring now, saying Labour should be electable?

Obvious point (for me) is that the reason why Labour lost under his watch and in 2015 was because Labour just weren't electable!

What I've loved about this whole thread is that I now believe that, in fact, losing a general election isn't as important as maintaining a genuine, active opposition. I know that in other areas of my life that winning in itself, for winnings sake can be disatisfying & non fulfilling.
I would rather listen to a genuine,intelligent, humanist man/woman, with what seems to me to be a well thought out & moral strategy,than a bunch of ex Etonian wankers! I'm well aware that my own prejudice is very obviously on display there; BUT they say nothing to me about my life!
Im also still sufficiently in love with human beings as a species, particularly the young, to believe that they'll grasp the difference in the long run. Of course, unfortunately, I've come a cropper on that notion on many occasions, but not all the time. I live in hope.
To re quote Tjj. Vote Jeremy Corbin. Viva la Revolution!

Somehow I've sensed it.....just wondered what the loathesome Mandelson was up to, googled 'Mandelson Corbyn' - do likewise - and found that the papers later today will be full of reports that Mandelson tried to persuade the other candidates to withdraw before the ballot papers went out, reckoning that this would cause the vote to be suspended, but officials said that withdrawal would cause Corbyn to win by default. I read the online Indy's version, can't bear to mention the other rags names. Reading the most recent posts here, yes, I think some MPs will go, and I do worry that the opposition front bench will have the keenest and clued up intellects. I do not know the calibre of outside-Parliament advisors that would be available to a Corbyn led party. Apparently Cameron's planning to blaze away with policy questions come September. Nonetheless I will be elated if Corbyn wins. He is right to want a reform of the party from the grassroots up, and I don't doubt this will result in a generational seachange and influx, something that the other parties will not be able to match. The reformed party will come good when - not if - the next financial crash happens, which I do not think is too far off, or maybe even before, when interest rates go up, which they must, and there is a large amount of mortgage default and resultant instability. The call to cancel the Trident billions will be deafening. But, oh, what decimation of things we hold dear will have happened before..

David Miliband (remember him? The bloke that lost leadership to his brother, so obviously no sour grapes there) seems to think that voting for Corbyn would create a 1 party tory state! Not sure how he got to that conclusion as that's effectively what we have at the moment with a useless Labour party! He's supporting Kendall, which hows where his loyalties lie, and a really good indicator as to why he lost his own leadership challenge, i.e. the toxic legacy of blair and the consequences of supporting him.

Game, set and match?

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/labour-leadership-debate-jeremy-corbyn-025052109.html#ZF3p8oQ

do you know, I never got my bloody ballot despite chivvying them and getting a patronising email about checking my junk email folder.

I am not impressed.

A little over an hour now.

One thing that has struck me recently is how passionate politics can be. With so many bland career politicians (dis)gracing the stage these days it's so pleasing and refreshing to see someone with actual principles and someone who's willing to defend them under the closest of scrutiny.

It's a strange time to be around these days (politically) and certainly a time that's going to see a lot of change, whether good or bad I don't know but it'll be interesting to see.

There are few people who could list 24 political beliefs and find me in agreement with every one of them, but it seems Corbyn's one such person: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34209478

I guess he really is a decent guy. He reminds me of me. ;)