Low-key but hopeful, UK's 'Corbynistas' eye fairer future

Sipping a cup of tea and dressed like a teacher nearing retirement, Jeremy Corbyn does not look like the next leader of Britain's Labour Party, whose improbable rise has electrified European leftists.

But the veteran socialist, who opposes Prime Minister David Cameron's austerity cuts and wants to apologise for the Iraq war, looks set to become just that next week after attracting sell-out crowds on the campaign trail.

Despite his surprise popularity in a race he only entered as a wildcard, the 66-year-old's public appearances have none of the razzmatazz which the young Tony Blair, now deeply unpopular, brought to Labour in the 1990s.

That is the way the "Corbynistas" like it, saying they are fed up of the slick-suited career politicians who they believe dominate Britain's political establishment.

"He inspires a lot of people who have been left behind," said Simon Davidian, a 22-year-old student attending a Corbyn rally with hundreds of people in Colchester, southeast England, on Wednesday.

"There's a sense of real genuineness there."

Corbyn's supporters are a mix of young people with hipster haircuts and older voters hoping Britain's main opposition party will return to its left-wing roots after years on a centrist path forged by Blair, who quit in 2007.

They share a sense of idealism that Corbyn -- who became an MP in 1983 and is a serial rebel who has never held a frontline political job -- can make Britain more equal by ending budget cuts and taxing the rich more.

"He's an alternative mindset, a world view which is about caring and cooperating rather than competing and being aspirational," said Barry Smith, a 72-year-old retired nurse who left Labour after the Iraq war but has rejoined because of Corbyn.

- No to 'gross' inequality -

Wearing his signature white shirt with vest underneath and sandals, Corbyn remained cautious about his chances of victory.

"We don't know what the result is going to be and we're not being over-optimistic but it's very exciting times we're in," he told AFP before entering the packed auditorium in Colchester.

When he gave his speech, his body language and delivery did not suggest a man on the brink of occupying one of the highest offices in British politics, either.

He did not use soundbites or an autocue or stride around the dais. Instead, he stood behind the speakers' table with his sleeves rolled up, talking unhurriedly in a flat voice, his spilt cup of tea in front of him.

"Staying at home, shouting at your television, even throwing shoes, newspapers or anything else at your television won't actually change anything," he told the audience.

"Do we have to live in a society that's so grossly unequal? No, we don't."

His speech, which received a standing ovation, was watched by journalists from Spain, Germany and Sweden, reflecting the scale of interest across Europe in his rise.

- Political dinosaur? -

Beyond the campaign bubble, the struggle Corbyn will face to become prime minister if he does win the Labour leadership is clear.

Most Labour MPs do not support him -- he only secured enough nominations to get on the ballot paper with minutes to spare and most of his peers have backed one of the three other, more centrist candidates.

While the hall at Colchester was full, the local county of Essex is a reminder of the reality in much of southern England, where Corbyn will have to win seats if he is to enter Downing Street at the next election in 2020.

It is the home of one of Britain's most famous political archetypes, the Essex Man -- an aspirational, self-made individual who benefitted from Margaret Thatcher's low tax policies in the 1980s.

Even today, the county, many of whose residents commute into London for work, is Conservative-dominated and has no Labour MPs.

Sipping a pint of beer in a pub elsewhere in Colchester was David Henley, who owns two fish-and-chip shops.

He is watching the rise of Corbyn with glee because he believes the left-winger will further weaken the party, whose May election defeat under Ed Miliband was its second in succession.

"I just think Corbyn's a bit of a dinosaur," the 49-year-old said. "I think it's fantastic for the Labour Party because it's tearing them apart from the inside."