In the end, it was the selfies that gave it away. Jeremy Corbyn guards his privacy so fiercely that even his closest allies didn’t know exactly where in the West Country he would be on holiday during the Easter recess. So they were as surprised as anyone when, in the last week of March, photographs of their beaming boss posing with fans in the seaside town of Exmouth began to appear on social media.
That reticence to submit to the management of his aides is one of many ways in which Corbyn differs from most party leaders. It partly explains why, even in a reliably Conservative redoubt such as Exmouth, he is constantly surrounded by passers-by who are keen to get a photograph and have a chat. Unlike some of the bands he will share a stage with at Glastonbury – the Labour leader will be addressing the festival in the weekend after the EU referendum – there is nothing manufactured about Corbyn.
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