Opinion: British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, Labour, is generally thought to be the man responsible for coining the phrase "a week is a long time in politics."
So if a week is a long time what is a year? Monday September 12, 2016, marks the one year anniversary of Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party leadership. On Saturday September 12, 2015, I was awake early and waiting for the result of the Labour Party leadership election which had followed that year's Labour General Election defeat and Ed Miliband's resignation. I had followed the leadership race and done a little phone banking for my preferred candidate Andy Burnham. Yes in 2015 I believed Andy was the party's best hope. As a northerner Jeremy Corbyn had by and large passed me by. I attended a local event for Andy Burnham organised by Karl Turner MP with John Prescott acting as host. Prescott opened the event remarking that he had hoped other candidates including Jeremy Corbyn could have been included but other local MPs never supported Corbyn. The event sealed the deal for me. I did not look further. Both Liz Kendal and Yvette Cooper held no appeal for me. They were just too wishy washy and right of centre politics. I say the above as a female. I say this next bit as an older person; for me Jeremy Corbyn seemed too old. I had said this to some and been shot down in flames but it was simple; aged a couple of years younger than Jeremy I was judging him as a contemporary. I have since changed my view. So we switched on the TV and were waiting for the result when our elderly dog Jessie, became very ill very quickly. She had come to us as a leggy nine-month-old abandoned dog that had been rescued around 14 years earlier. Her previous owners had mistreated her then moved home and left her tied to a tree in the garden of their former home. By the time she was rescued she was skinny and in relatively poor health. So after a few weeks with a local dog rescue service she came to us on a temporary foster basis. Yes TEMPORARY! Hubby could never part with her and she was a much loved part of our family for many years bringing laughter and joy. A friendly dog she had one of those smiley faces. By September 12, 2015, she was almost blind, had a few lumps and bumps and was tiring easily. She was spending more time snuggled in her bed but still seemed happy. We had spoken to the vet and agreed TLC was the best course of action. But on the morning of September 12 her back legs gave way under her and she was laid spreadeagled in the garden as rain fell. Although a big dog Hubby managed to carry her into the kitchen where I had laid her bed. We rang the vet having decided it was time. I sat on the floor with Jess talking to her and stroking her. The female vet and her assistant arrived and as soon as Jess heard someone at the door she got up and made it along the kitchen wagging her tail. But she collapsed again. We managed to carry her into the kitchen and the vet prepared to put Jess to sleep. As I sat with her talking reassuring words Jess smiled serenely and passed peacefully into the next world. In the front room the TV was ringing out that Jeremy Corbyn was elected but I could not have cared less. If you have ever had to euthanise one of your beloved pets you will understand. We were heartbroken and that included our other little rescue dog who had been with us a few years. It took weeks to settle him down and even get him to leave the house by the front door the vet had used. So Monday it is Jeremy Corbyn's one-year anniversary as party leader but a sad day for us as we remember and still miss our Jessie. Corbyn faced a tough year as plotters in the party began working on ways to undermine him and remove him as party leader even before he was elected. He has showed strength of character time and time again. He is all those things a Labour Party leader should be. He is compassionate, inspiring, entertaining, thoughtful, measured, on the left of the political spectrum and unlike the rest of us he does not do personal. When Tory PM Theresa May calls him a laughing stock to his face it is like water off a duck's back. When former Tory PM David Cameron told him to "go" he ignored the abuse. If Mr Corbyn is so unelectable, and making Labour unelectable too, why do so many Tories, like smug-faced Philip Hammond sat alongside May and looking for all the world like Nasty Mr Burns in the Simpsons, laugh in Corbyn's face and attack him? In 2016 my leadership vote went to Jeremy Corbyn. This year on September 24, barring any personal tragedies or disasters, I will be watching the TV as Corbyn is reelected and if he is I will be jumping for joy. And I will not be the only person celebrating. Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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