The Labour party leader, Jeremy Corbyn got invited to Glastonbury 2017 and he was more of a rock star than most of the festival’s headliners.
For years, Glastonbury organizers have been inviting politicians to the festival to make an appearance and give some sort of speech. But this year was totally different from previous festivals. The appearance of the leader of the opposition, marking the Labour Party’s comeback since the election, was among the most anticipated attractions of the festival.
On Saturday, June 24, Corbyn arrived at Glastonbury ahead of his appearance right before Run The Jewels. But the show began hours before he went onstage when he was received by fans dancing around his car and chanting his name. Chants of “oh, Jeremy Corbyn” were tuned to White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” guitar riff.
Actually, the “Oh, Jeremy Corbyn” could be heard everywhere throughout the weekend. People were chanting at the silent disco, during Radiohead’s Friday night headlining set. During Stormzy’s appearance, even on the bus.
The politician gained a lot of popularity among young electors in the recent 2017 general election. That’s why Glastonbury organizers Michael and Emily Eavis asked him to appear at the festival, saying that “it really felt like the right time.”
“Millions of young people — Glastonbury people — voted for him [Corbyn],” Michael said during the Glastonbury Free Press. “I think he has a fundamental sense of justice, of real political change, of being anti-war and anti-nuclear. That’s what we’ve spent our lives campaigning for, too. Since Emily was two, we’ve been going to London to march for all those things that Jeremy represents.”
Corbyn is the first opposition leader to speak from one of the stages
Corbyn spoke on the Pyramid Stage before Run The Jewels, minutes earlier from speaking on the LeftField stage.
As leader of the Labour party, he became the first opposition leader to speak from one of the main stages of the festival, addressing tens of thousands of festival goers. Some reports suggest that he drew the biggest crowds of this year’s festival, while others say that they hadn’t seen an audience that big since The Rolling Stones performed in 2013.
During his speech, Corbyn thanked Eavis for the invitation and for organizing such an important cultural event for England. He addressed Donald Trump saying that music brings a message that the US President should listen to: “build bridges, not walls.”
“Politics is actually about everyday life. It’s about all of us, what we dream, what we want, and what we want for everybody else,” he continued in his powerful speech. Adding that the Labour campaign was so successful because it “brought people back into politics because they believed there was something on offer for them.”
He also addressed first-time voters, marking the importance they have as electors and how proud he is to have inspired them to aspire for more and to have made them feel like their views do matter. He’s glad that young people now see that they can’t accept mediocrity “as just part of life.”
“Well it didn’t quite work out like that, did it? That politics that got out of the box, is not going back in any box,” he finished his speech, receiving a rapturous applause.