Interviewing Jeremy Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn MP won the Labour Party leadership yesterday, serenaded by Billy Bragg. Did they transport you back to the rebellious mid 1980s as they did me?

I studied for a media studies degree at the Polytechnic of Central London (PCL) from 1983 to 1986. It’s now the University of Westminster. The Conservatives were in power and Mrs Thatcher was prime minister. However, the Left dominated PCL. The Student Union backed every left-wing issue, from striking miners to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

I was in my first or second year at PCL when I met Jeremy Corbyn, the MP for Islington North. Together with my fellow student Sarah Champion, our task was to record a radio interview with him at the Houses of Parliament.

Memories of Parliament in the 1980s

Despite the social upheavals of the time, I have absolutely no idea what we spoke to Mr Corbyn about. Or why him in particular. I remember he collected two overawed and nervous students from the lobby. He walked us through a labyrinth of corridors to his tiny office where we managed to complete the interview despite a poor start.

We spent an embarrassing amount of time getting the sound right on one of the poly’s cranky ‘portable’ Uher tape recorders. Then, we asked him an excruciatingly long and drawn-out question. Even today, I cringe when thinking about it.

Yet despite our inexperience and evident nerves, Mr Corbyn was courteous and kind. He never once interrupted, even during the world’s longest radio question. Thereafter, he answered every question we put to him with deftness, good humour and common sense.

Late thanks to Jeremy Corbyn

Maybe, as Stephen Pound MP told Andrew Neil on Friday’s Daily Politics show: “Some of his economics policies are eccentric and slightly nostalgic”. That said, my memories are of a decent person who showed rare patience with two bumbling students. It’s a bit late to say it, but thank you, Jeremy.