Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Jeremy Corbyn says being branded 'sexy sea dog' by lustful mums is 'most embarrassing thing he has ever heard'

The Labour leadership hopeful has attracted an army of female fans for his laid-back ways, beard and passion

Hardeep Matharu
Wednesday 29 July 2015 07:14 BST
Comments
Labour leadership hopeful Jeremy Corbyn has dismissed claims that he is a "sexy sea dog"
Labour leadership hopeful Jeremy Corbyn has dismissed claims that he is a "sexy sea dog" (Getty Images Europe)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Labour leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn has said being branded a “sexy sea dog” by women on Mumsnet is the “most embarrassing thing I’ve ever heard”.

Mr Corbyn, now being tipped as runner-up in the race to the Labour leadership after securing the backing of five trade unions, made the admission on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.

Responding to talk on the parents’ website of his supposed sexiness, Mr Corbyn, 66, said: “This is the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever heard.

“I had a bit of a chuckle about it, but I’m actually a bit embarrassed, to be quite honest.”

A discussion on Mumsnet entitled “Anyone else think Jeremy Corbyn is very sexy?” has more than 90 comments with “Phawoar!” and “there’s just something about him” among the lustful remarks.

Other compliments state that Mr Corbyn is "attractive in a world weary old sea dog sort of way” and “he looked like he'd just spent two weeks in the pub - he's got a coolness about him”.

One commentator compared his attractiveness to Harry Potter’s trusted mentor in the famous wizard stories remarking: “If you half fancied Dumbledore, Corbyn is probably in the same arena.”

“Passion is sexy. Wouldn’t say he was good looking, but definitely attractive,” added another.

Although a few did disagree: “No. Call Specsavers.”

Despite his embarrassment, Mr Corbyn later took part in a Mumsnet webchat alongside fellow leadership candidate Liz Kendall.

He said he agreed that Ms Kendall and Yvette Cooper had confronted sexist attitudes during the leadership campaign.

In his Working With Women manifesto, published today, Mr Corbyn launched his policies on gender equality with a commitment to having a 50 per cent female shadow cabinet and to “work towards” ensuring that half of all Labour MPs are women.

Measures outlined in the document include forcing companies to publish equal pay audits and moving towards universal free childcare.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in