Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis has given his support to both Labour and Jeremy Corbyn ahead of the election next Thursday.
Speaking to Somerset Live, he said: “It’s incredibly important that families can stay in their local area, feeling secure with homes for life. Corbyn is the man this country needs right now.”
Corbyn spoke on the Pyramid Stage after the last general election in 2017, when he said: “There’s a number of things they’re very simple very basic questions we should ask ourselves:
“Is it right that so many people in our country have no home to live in and only the street to sleep on? Is it right that so many people are frightened of where they live at the moment, having seen the horrors of what happened at Grenfell Tower? Is it right that so many people live in such poverty, in a society surrounded by such riches? No, it obviously is not.
“And is it right that European nationals living in this country, making their contribution to our society, working in our hospitals, schools and universities, don’t know if they are going to be allowed to remain here.
“I say, they all must stay, and they all must be part of our world, and be part of our community. Because what festivals, what this festival is about, are about coming together. This festival was envisaged as being for music yes, but also for the environment, and for peace.”
That same year, Corbyn visited a social housing project founded by Eavis in the festival’s hometown of Pilton. Eavis said at the time: “These are houses for village people to live in and they will never be sold. My dream was to have 50 houses available for the Festival’s 50th anniversary in 2020. Today we are one step nearer to making that dream a reality.”
Stormzy, who headlined the Friday night of Glastonbury 2019, also endorsed Jeremy Corbyn in an Instagram post last month. He encouraged followers to register to vote, causing a 236 per cent surge, and called Boris Johnson a “sinister man”.
Corbyn didn’t appear at Glastonbury 2019, though Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell told a crowd in the Left Field tent Corbyn was “in the final consultations” on a second referendum, something which has since become party policy.
Paul McCartney was the first headliner to be confirmed for Glastonbury 2020 back in November, with the former Beatle set to play the Pyramid Stage on Saturday night.
At the start of last week, Emily Eavis revealed another artist could be announced before Christmas. Speaking to Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2, she said the remaining Pyramid Stage headliners have never played at Glastonbury before: “and we’ve one male and one female who are coming”.
Wolf Alice and Diana Ross are the only other artists officially confirmed for the festival’s line-up, though Mike Skinner and Carl Cox have ‘self-confirmed’. Supergrass are strongly-rumoured after reforming in September to perform at Pilton Party, a ‘thank-you’ event for the local community organised by Glastonbury.
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Glastonbury 50, the book commemorating the festival’s 50th-anniversary, was named as a ‘Book of the Year’ by The Times over the weekend. It previously ranked third in the Sunday Times Bestseller List for hardback non-fiction books.
The book is authored by organisers Michael and Emily Eavis and contains hundreds of photos from the festival and celebrity contributions.
In an alternative chart released by Amazon, Glastonbury 50 placed 10th among all non-fiction books after its first week of sales. The book had recently sold out in some stores, but festival organisers confirmed today the second print run had now arrived and all stores should be restocked soon, if not already.
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