Jeremy Corbyn: My cat is a socialist Who said Jeremy Corbyn doesn’t have a sense of humour? The Labour leader has relaxed somewhat in recent media appearances, […]

Who said Jeremy Corbyn doesn’t have a sense of humour?

The Labour leader has relaxed somewhat in recent media appearances, from exchanging jam with the One Show, to talking jazz with NME.

It’s that slightly silly bit of any General Election campaign where the focus turns to personality, not policy.

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Because screw the manifestos, what British voters want to know is: what is the political alignment of Jeremy Corbyn’s cat?

El Gato- which means ‘the cat’ in Spanish- is Corbyn’s beloved feline, though he has been politically mercurial. Or should we say purr-curial?

(We shouldn’t.)

‘Socialist tendencies’

Finally we have confirmation of where El Gato sits (other than on garden furniture.) According to the leader of the Labour party, El Gato is an active socialist.

“El Gato is, like all cats, fairly individual. But he’s also formed a great friendship with a stray cat so there are socialist tendencies in Gato’s character. He’s allowing a stray cat to share his food,” he told the Independent.

Corbyn has assured readers El Gato would get along famously with Chief Mouser of the Cabinet Office Larry, Palmerston of the Foreign Office, and the Treasury’s Gladstone.

Palmerston, Gladstone and Larry were not available for comment as civil servants are restricted by purdah during a General Election campaign.

(For those curious about where Number 11’s former resident Freya is now – she is living in the Kent countryside following George Osborne’s departure).

Shifting allegiances

The new details about El Gato reveal an interesting transmogrification.

During a Q&A with Sunday Mirror readers in August 2016, Corbyn said he and his wife fear their pet might be a Conservative. “We were concerned about his disappointing individualism and lack of concern for others,” he explained.

Yet just a few months before, Corbyn showed El Gato leaving the house during a David Cameron interview.

@pestononsunday had to go outside to take picture of El Gato as he's not too impressed with your guest pic.twitter.com/OOa6vWzeWU — Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) May 22, 2016

El Gato, is always greeted by Corbyn with the phrase “buenos dias, El Gato,” according to an Independent on Sunday interview last year. Why the name? “Cats don’t know their name, cats know voices. What he does respond to when I ask him to come in, is the tune of ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree’,” explained Corbyn. “I whistle to it. I can’t sing, you see.”