Jeremy Corbyn may be facing a by-election backlash, but there is one area in which he is the undisputed victor – the Parliamentary Beard of the Year awards.
Corbyn has held onto his title in 2016 thanks to a “beard and eyebrow combo” that left facial-hair lovers watching Prime Minister’s Questions stunned.
The Opposition leader scored a similar victory to his recent leadership election, with more than half the poll. It is his seventh win since 2001.
Keith Flett, the spokesman for the Beard Liberation Front which awards the prize, praised Corbyn for leading the way in acceptance of unshaven politicians.
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He said: “It used to be tough to scrape together a list of 10 MPs. That is no longer a problem.
“I am not sure you hear people saying ‘I wouldn’t vote for Corbyn because he has a beard’, which you would have 20 years ago.”
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Flett believes many more MPs could have had a shot at victory, if they would only dispense with their razors.
He said: “We always thought that David Cameron would have been vastly improved by having a beard. but there was always some doubt as to whether that was ever possible.”
Flett also mourns the demise of Labour deputy leader Tom Watson’s beard, which clinched the prize in 2009.
He said: “He had a magnificent beard, which he subsequently shaved off, because he claimed his partner didn’t like it, and he has refused all entreaties to regrow it.
“We had a conversation recently where he said the key thing he had in common with Corbyn was they both won Beard of the Year.”