Poetry for the Many: Jeremy Corbyn & Len McCluskey

Jeremy Corbyn was first elected to parliament in 1983 and continues to represent Islington North, and served as Leader of Her Majesty’s Official Opposition from September 2015 to April 2020. Corbyn spends a great deal of time and energy focussed on anti-racism, anti imperialism, LGBT+ rights, transport, the environment, opposition to nuclear weapons and military intervention, Trade Union policies, Miscarriages of Justice and more. In parliament he served on the Social Security Committee (1992-2007), the London Regional Select Committee (2009-2010) and the Justice Committee (2011-2015) and was awarded the 2017 Sean McBride Peace Prize and before that (2013) the Gandhi International Peace Award. He is currently a member of the Parliamentary Assembly for the Council of Europe, the UK Socialist Campaign Group, and a regular participant at the United Nations Human Rights Council (Geneva), Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (Vice President), and Chagos Islands All Party Parliamentary Group (Honorary President), and a Vice president of the British Group Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

Len McCluskey was the first general secretary of the powerful ‘fighting-back union,’ Unite, until 2021. Known for its global solidarity, political voice, and workplace organising, Unite thrived under Len’s leadership, becoming the wealthiest and most influential union in the country. Born in Liverpool, Len was educated on the docks, where he was politicised and inspired by local artists. A child of the 1960s, he embraced Liverpool’s cultural revolution. Len’s experiences fuelled his support for global people-powered revolutions, and his combative style gave workers the confidence they needed in their struggles for fairness and justice.