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Few people know Jeremy Corbyn as closely as I do. As soon as I met him, I knew that his aim was to help as many people as possible. He was honest and decent from the get go, always putting other people first.

And I, like thousands of others would do in time, fell in love with him for these very reasons.

I have always been proud of my husband for his values and his principles.

Jeremy’s record in parliament, whether as a backbench MP or as the Leader of the Labour Party, is testament to his belief in a world where, social justice, human rights and peace are valued more greatly than money and greed.

(Image: Christopher Furlong)

As an MP he has always sought to protect the most vulnerable.

As has been widely reported, this meant that on some occasions his conscience led him to vote against his own party.

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Whether it be during votes on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - which are widely viewed as illegal – or on the Welfare Reform Bill 2015, Jeremy has always put what was right ahead of what might have been personally expedient.

In the run up to the election in 2019 I asked Jeremy what his first priority would be were Labour to win the election on December 12th.

(Image: Leon Neal)

He replied: “The very next day we will invest in housing and our NHS because we need to look after everybody.”

I read about the work that our amazing heroes in the NHS are doing during the coronavirus outbreak and only wish that the investment our health service needs had been offered long before now.

Jeremy believes in the Labour Party and I know that hundreds of thousands of people joined the party because they share his values.

Our members are not a ‘rabble’, they are the lifeblood of our movement. I want to thank them all from the bottom of my heart for the support that they have offered us and the time that they have spent campaigning for the Party.

(Image: PA)

I will never regret our dream of a government which had proud ambitions for a better quality of life for everybody in the United Kingdom, as well as our far-flung communities overseas.

It is now up to our movement to ensure that it does not remain a dream.

In these difficult days we need to remember who has argued passionately for investing in our National Health Service. We need to remember who has argued for lifelong learning, for housing as a human right and for all people to be treated with the dignity that they deserve.

(Image: Peter Summers)

I hope that in the coming weeks many of these things will be consolidated as we pull together to defeat the coronavirus pandemic. Let us not lose sight of our commitment to socialism and the policies of the Manifesto.

It has been incredibly hard for me to watch my husband vilified and to hear his words twisted by his political opponents and some in the media.

It has been even harder to watch him be attacked by his own Party.

The brutal irony is that if we had pulled together, we would have been ready to lead the country rather than suffer more austerity under the Tories.

(Image: Getty Images)

My greatest wish ahead of the 2017 general election was that the party would stay together so that we could beat them.

Unfortunately, my wish was not granted and I will forever think of that lost moment when we were so close to winning for the people of the United Kingdom.

It has been the greatest privilege of my life to travel with Jeremy to all of the regions and nations of the UK and meet so many wonderful people including new friends from across the world who, like me, have also made the UK their home and contributed their skills to our society and the economy, not least to the NHS, our food and hospitality culture and our rich artistic life.

(Image: REUTERS)

Also it has been a privilege to meet wonderful women - especially the Waspi women.

We are all part of the Cosmos and we all have a part to play in rebuilding our movement.

I am proud that Jeremy steps down from the biggest political party in Europe with a clean balance sheet. There is no debt. Some might say this is a perfect example of how a Corbyn-led organisation can be financially trusted not to waste money and balance the books!

I want to thank everybody who voted for Labour and especially those who stood with my husband.

(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

It has seemed as though we were fighting for our country and our party every single day of the past five years and we couldn’t have done it without our members and supporters.

We know you shared our values. If equality, humanity, honesty and kindness is called Corbynism, then that’s all right with me.

I believe that the spring will come one day again with happiness, social justice and hope For The Many.

In the meantime, Jeremy and I will continue to be dedicated to our causes human rights, social justice and peace around the world. We will never cease to struggle alongside you all in this mission.