A voter who believes her question was read by Jeremy Corbyn at his first prime minister’s questions as leader of the opposition has likened his performance to a “learned professor censuring the younger student”.
Marie, from Putney in south-west London, was one of 40,000 people who submitted questions for the Labour leader to ask the prime minister on Wednesday.
Speaking to the Guardian after what she believed was her question on affordable housing was asked by Corbyn, Marie revealed that she recently rejoined the Labour party after abandoning it under Tony Blair.
“I was a member of the Labour party many years ago when I was a student at university. I didn’t agree with the politics of Tony Blair. He was very much more like a Tory than he was a Labour prime minister,” she said.
“He says that that’s what got him elected and that’s the only way he could get elected – well on that basis I’d rather not be elected because it was very much like having the Tories in power having him as prime minister. I didn’t agree with what he did and I couldn’t remain a member of that party.”
Marie, who requested that her surname was not published, said she was impressed with Corbyn’s performance. “I thought he was quite censorious of David Cameron in a very calm, collected and quiet way,” she said.
“He sort of looked at him over his glasses – it was like a learned professor censuring the younger student who has perhaps done rather well but is arrogant and doesn’t listen rather well. That’s the way I saw it.”
Admitting that she was taken aback that her question was asked in the Commons, Marie said she was only half-listening when Corbyn read out her name.
“I couldn’t believe it. My mum said, ‘Cor! That’s your question!’ - because I was half-zoned out, not really listening,” she said, adding that she had not been contacted by the Labour party before her question was asked.
“I do think people should take more of an interest and hold the people who represent us to account,” she said. “I think that if they [politicians] thought they would be held more to account then they wouldn’t be quite so arrogant in the way that they act. I feel they are very arrogant, the people that represent us in parliament. That includes Labour as well.”
And she dismissed the criticism of Corbyn for standing in silence during the national anthem at a Battle of Britain memorial ceremony on Tuesday. Describing herself as neither a republican or a monarchist, Marie said: “To be frank, I didn’t think it was a big deal whether he sung or didn’t sing. I really think it’s crazy – it’s just trying to make trouble … I think they really ought to leave him alone on that topic because I don’t think he was being disrespectful at all.”
Speaking to LBC’s James O’Brien, Marie said she was frustrated at the government’s “absolutely stupid” policy on housing which, she said, had meant that her surrounding area was becoming dominated with “flats for rich people”.
In February, Marie phoned in to LBC during an interview with former shadow chancellor Ed Balls. During the call, Balls asked her whether she found him attractive, saying: “Privately Marie, just between you and me, with nobody else listening, am I not on the list?”
Marie replied: “No, Ed, I’m sorry. You’re a thoroughly great guy otherwise.”
However, there was confusion late on Wednesday over which Marie had actually asked the question read by Corbyn. At least one other other voter, Marie Faulkner, from Crouch End in north London, said she asked a similar question but that she could not be sure whose was the one read in Commons.
Odds were also instantly being offered by trade magazine, Inside Housing, on the identify of “Stephen” from a housing association who Corbyn also selected for a question. The favourite, Stephen Howlett, chief executive of Peabody, with 900 homes in Corbyn’s constituency tweeted: “No, not me.”
The semi-anonymous Stephen wanted to know what Cameron thought about the impact of his rent reduction for housing association tenants on the repairs and maintenance budgets. He said his association was facing 150 redundancies in March.
Only one housing association, Gentoo in Sunderland, has so far announced it will be forced to make redundancies but it said none of its staff members were involved in PMQs.
The major housing associations welcomed the spotlight Corbyn had thrown on the issue which will benefit tenants but hit their budgets. A spokesman for Peabody said it would knock £42m off its annual budget.
