Are Labour struggling to shift tickets for this summer's 'Jezfest' extravaganza?
2 min read
It has been dubbed 'Jezfest', a celebration of music and politics aiming to capitalise on the continuing popularity of Labour's leader.
London LIVE takes place on 16 June at the White Hart Lane recreation ground in Tottenham, north London, and the line-up is a veritable Who's Who of the Corbynista tribe.
As well as the Absolute Boy himself, attendees will get to hear words of wisdom from Shadow Cabinet big-hitters John McDonnell and Kate Osamor, as well as Owen Jones and Rachel Shabi.
And if music is more your thing, there will be the Magic Numbers, Jermaine Jackman, Reverend and the Makers and many, many more.
The event hopes to recreate the magic of last summer's Glastonbury festival when, fresh from his better-than-expected showing in the general election, the Labour leader addressed his adoring crowd, who serenaded him with the anthemic 'Oh Jeremy Corbyn' song.
However, it seems that tickets for the 20,000-capacity event are not exactly flying out the door. One insider familiar with the situation says that by the end of last week, only 1,800 had been shifted.
So worried are organisers that the PLP (parliamentary Labour party) Office Team have now emailed MPs urging them to use their social media accounts to drum up some much-needed publicity.
And they don't even have to worry about thinking up their own posts. They just have to click on a link and - hey presto - it's all done for them.
The email - passed to Dot Commons by an impeccable Labour source - says: "MPs are asked to help promote the festival – including amongst their own CLP members - by sharing the below tweets or facebook posts on their social media accounts.
"We’re (sic) written a selection of tweets for you to send out from your CLP/MP account. Pick one or two that you like best.
"The long link is a twitter intent – just click it and it will create an automatic tweet for you to tweet from your CLP/MP page.
"You must be logged into your CLP/MP account for this to work. Once you’ve sent your tweet, you can pin it to the top of your page."
Labour sources insist that the total number of tickets sold is higher than 1,800, but they are remaining tight-lipped about the precise figure.
A Labour party spokesperson said: "Labour LIVE will be a festival of music, art and politics. It is a fun-packed day out for the whole family and we encourage everyone to take part.
"Ticket sales have been positive, and we are offering free tickets to under-14s. We look forward to hosting Labour LIVE with our supporters and everyone from the local community."
