Reminders of Jeremy Corbyn addressing hundreds of thousands of people at the Durham Miners’ Gala have been making the rounds on social media in the aftermath of a historic defeat in the local elections.
The Labour Party lost its majority on the Durham County Council last night for the first time in 100 years following a string of catastrophic of results in the north east.
In a crushing blow for Sir Keir Starmer’s party, The Conservatives picked up 14 seats in the local elections, meaning that while Labour still has the most number of councillors, they no longer have a majority.
It will be the first time since 1925 that the region – which is home to the annual Miners’ Gala – will not be in Labour’s hands.
Starmer’s predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, was a regular fixture at the Miners’ Gala, also known as the ‘Big Meeting’.
He first attended in 2016, not long after winning the Labour leadership contest, and has given rousing speeches in the years hence.
The Durham Miners’ Association (DMA) secretary Dave Hopper said of Mr Corbyn: “He has filled a lot of people with confidence and he got a tremendous mandate from people in the party.”
He said Mr Corbyn was “probably the first socialist since Keir Hardie” to lead the party.
“He has filled a lot of people with confidence and he got a tremendous mandate from people in the party,” he said.
In 2017 the Labour leader attended alongside Ken Loach, who also addressed the crowd.
He thanked those who supported Labour’s general election campaign and said he was leading a “government in waiting”.
He pledged to “call time on austerity” and scrap a cap on public sector pay rises as well introduce a national living wage of £10 an hour.
Mr Corbyn added: “I don’t want to live in a Britain of food banks, I want to live in a Britain where people are properly fed because they are paid the wages to be able to afford the food.”
He drew boos from the crowd when he mentioned Margaret Thatcher, adding: “Never again must we go through a political attack on a community such as that Thatcher mounted against the mining community.”
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