Diane Abbott: Corbyn’s thought of a sizzling date was journey to see Marx’s tomb

Diane Abbott has revealed Jeremy Corbyn‘s idea of taking her on a hot date was a trip to see Karl Marx’s tomb – as she tells all about their love affair.

The staunch left-wingers met in 1978 years before they became high-flying Labour MPs – starting off their doomed romance when he was volunteering at campaigns for the party as a north London councillor.

But in her new autobiography the MP has derided the future Leader of the Opposition for his complete dearth of romance – which seems to have sent her spiraling into complete boredom.

The Mother of the House describes the young leftie as ’99 per cent absorbed in party politics’, with the only interesting thing she remembers the dull youth doing being growing vegetables in his garden.

In an affectionate – if derisive – account of their romance, she recalled a 1979 camping camping holiday when he had bought a socialist East German motorbike – which kept breaking down.

Again frustrating her with a total lack of culture, she had to battle to try the famed southern French cuisine for just one lunch – after she discovered he had brought enough instant macaroni and processed foods in his saddlebag to last them the full week.

In an extract published by The Guardian, she wrote: ‘We travelled by motorbike and, Jeremy being Jeremy, it was a socialist motorbike, an East German model. It broke down regularly on our trip south, which I found rather irritating, but lovingly repairing his motorbike by the side of the road was Jeremy’s happy place. 

‘When we reached the campsite I perked up. As well as enjoying the French countryside, I was looking forward to some delicious Gallic cuisine. I was horrified when Jeremy unpacked his motorbike saddlebags to reveal a week’s supply of instant macaroni and other processed foods. After much discussion back and forth, I was able to argue for at least one restaurant lunch.’

Ms Abbott, the first black woman MP, further recalled a monastic, ‘freezing’ Christmas born from the ‘socialist frugality’ of his parents’ home in stark contrast to the joyful and boozy parties she enjoyed with her Jamaican family.

Instead of the Caribbean drinks she loved and the spicy festive delicacies, she was given boiled vegetables and no drink – with the turkey their sole admission of the day.

But after confronting the young Corbyn about how boring he was, she said she was delighted when he had organised a surprise trip for her.

A keen lover of the arts and theatre, she had high hopes for a glamorous trip with her bushy-bearded beau. But it was not to be – as she came face to face with the MP’s true dedication to his cause.

She explained: ‘Once, after I lamented our lack of social activity as a couple, he pondered it for a few days and told me we were going out. Feeling excited, I dressed up nicely and we bundled into the car. I had no idea where we were going – perhaps a nice wine bar? 

‘It turned out Jeremy’s idea of a social outing was to drive me to Highgate cemetery and proudly show me the tomb of Karl Marx.’

The relationship eventually ended without anger, as their mutual Labour-loving friends helped her move out of his house.

And, 45 years on, she says she is grateful for the un-romantic romance, because it helped get her into politics.

She says that without Corbyn’s passion, she may have steered clear of Labour – but he had ‘infected’ her with his love for the party.

Decades later, their paths remain linked – with Corbyn leading the opposition benches with Ms Abbott as his Shadow Home Secretary.

The closeness between the pair led to claims that she was ‘bombproof’ in the party, despite a series of political gaffes. 

They would later both be suspended from the Labour Parliamentary Party at the same time due to accusations of anti-Semitism.

Ms Abbott issued a swift apology for her remarks in April last year, after she suggested Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experience ‘prejudice’ but are not ‘subject to racism’.

But the party was struck by controversy as Keir Starmer had given her back the Labour whip but not told her whether she could stand as a party candidate into the first week of the election campaign.  

Corbyn, who ran successfully as an independent candidate, backed Ms Abbott as he said she had been ‘disgracefully treated’ by Labour bosses.

Ms Abbott ‘liked’ a social media post by Mr Corbyn’s wife Laura Alvarez praising his decision to stand against Labour in his Islington North constituency – despite endorsing anyone other than a Labour candidate in an election being a breach of party membership rules. 

Mr Corbyn told the PoliticsJoe website: ‘Diane has been disgracefully treated by the Labour Party and by, particularly, the individual national officials of the party – all of them.’

He added: ‘If she’s reinstated, good. If not she’s got a choice of her own to make. But whatever she does, I’ll support her.’

In a similar story, Corbyn’s first wife is also said to have been driven away by his ‘joyless’ approach to life.

In A Dangerous Hero: Corbyn’s Ruthless Plot for Power, released in 2019, investigative reporter Tom Bower said Jane Chapman said she thought she had walked out on him in a ‘feminist kick’ – but really she left because life with him was so arid. 

‘He would sit on the floor in his greasy, unwashed army surplus store jacket, oblivious to his wife’s irritation,’ Bower wrote. 

‘They rarely went out together. Dinner invitations were refused. Chapman spent lonely evenings in their small flat with Mango the dog and Harold Wilson the cat as her only companions while Corbyn met political cronies’. 

Chapman also found holidays with Corbyn a chore: in one case riding pillion on Corbyn’s bumpy bike in Eastern Europe, shunning proper beds and interesting restaurants in favour of ‘a small tent and cooking tins of beans on a single ring Calor gas stove’. 

She said: ‘Jeremy never thought there was anything wrong. He assumed that, because our politics were compatible, that amounted to a proper relationship.

‘He didn’t acknowledge my emotional side. He doesn’t recognise a woman’s feelings.’

Chapman walked out on Corbyn just before Christmas 1979. As she packed her belongings, Corbyn told her that she should ‘read Simone de Beauvoir’.

But, not having read the book, he failed to understand the feminist author’s call for women as ‘the second sex’ to elevate themselves by being more than just defined by men.

Chapman says: ‘He thought I left him on a feminist kick. But it was because I wanted some fun. His lack of emotional awareness didn’t change. My emotional life as part of a relationship was forgotten’.