Jeremy Corbyn has made little secret of the fact that he dislikes photographers and film crews awaiting him outside his plush London home.
But today it was his wife Laura Alvarez who was caught in the crossfire of this constant battle as the Labour leader appeared to shut her in the porch as he left for work.
Ms Alvarez, the hard Left politician’s third wife, was coming out of the Islington terraced home behind him this morning when, without him seeing, she turned to close an inner door at the property.
With a car waiting to whisk him away from the glare of the lenses, Mr Corbyn promptly shut the front door, leaving her stranded in the domestic vestibule.
He then opened the garden gate, said a gruff good morning to waiting journalists and got in the car.
When the footage was posted on Twitter it prompted one wag to comment: ‘Doesn’t know if she wants to leave or remain.’
With a car waiting to whisk him away from the glare of the lenses, Mr Corbyn promptly shut the front door, leaving her stranded in the domestic vestibule
Mr Corbyn’s house is often beseiged by reporters keen to speak to him, with Labour in the midst of a civil war over its Brexit strategy and the ongoing row over anti-Semitism within Labour.
Last November he was filmed turning the wrong way down a one-way street near his home as he left.
In 2016 the almost identical house next door to his was put on the market for £925,000, suggesting his own must be worth around £1million now.
Ms Alvarez, a Mexican-born former banker turned coffee bean importer, shares the home with their cat, El Gato.
Mr Corbyn’s third wife, who is 20 years younger than the Labour leader, met the Islington MP in 1999 when she flew to Britain after her seven-year-old niece was abducted by her father following a custody battle.
In 2012 they married on a 400-year-old estate to the south of Mexico City. While her siblings and parents attended the ceremony and champagne reception, it is understood that Corbyn was accompanied by a single friend, and none of his family.
His first wife Labour councillor Jane Chapman called time on their union after growing fed up with her husband’s obsession with politics and attending committee meetings.
His second wife, fiery Chilean campaigner Claudia Bracchitta, drew the line after 12 years of marriage at his refusal to allow the eldest of their three sons to go to grammar school. Mr Corbyn himself attended a fee-paying school followed by a grammar school.
Now Labour anti-Semitism revolt spreads to Corbyn’s top team: shadow health secretary blasts let-off for Chris Williamson as MP Keith Vaz who voted for him to be readmitted says the decision should be reversed
A senior members of Jeremy Corbyn’s frontbench joined a widening revolt today as more than 120 of his MPs demanded his ally Chris Williamson be re-suspended over anti-Semitism.
Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth said he ‘can’t understand’ why the Derby North MP was let off with a warning after saying the party was ‘too apologetic’ about cases of Jew-hate.
It came as more and more MPs and peers joined deputy leader Tom Watson in demanding the Labour leader withdraw the whip from Williamson following his controversial readmission in a joint statement.
Labour’s deputy leader said the group could not overstate the ‘depth of hurt and anger’ at the way the case had been handled. In a separate letter, dozens of Labour staff members wrote to general secretary Jennie Formby to demand he be thrown out.
Almost 100 members of party staff have also signed a separate statement to Jennie Formby, the general secretary, asking her to review the decision.
Leicester South MP Mr Ashworth said today: ‘Can’t understand this decision at all.
‘Should have been referred to the NCC. Hope the NEC overturn the panel when they next meet.’
It came after his Leicester constituency neighbour, the disgraced MP Keith Vaz, last night demanded the decision to reinstate Mr Williamson be reconsidered – despite voting for it himself.
Leicester South MP Mr Ashworth said the Williamson decision ‘should have been referred to the NCC’, adding: ‘Hope the NEC overturn the panel when they next meet’
Mr Vaz, who is currently the subject of a sleaze inquiry, was part of a three-strong Labour panel that overruled advice from officials who had recommended further action against Mr Williamson
Mr Corbyn is facing increasing pressure over the handling of the case against Mr Williamson, his close friend and ally
There was widespread anger at the announcement on Wednesday that Derby North MP Chris Williamson had had his suspension lifted just months after he said Labour had been too apologetic over anti-Semitism
Mr Vaz, who is currently the subject of a sleaze inquiry, was part of a three-strong Labour panel that overruled advice from officials who had recommended further action against Mr Williamson.
Labour sources said the former minister had warned that continuing Mr Williamson’s suspension could raise the risk of Labour losing his marginal Derby North seat in the event of a snap election.
But last night Mr Vaz called for the National Executive Committee panel that made the ruling to be reconvened with different members.
In a letter to Jennie Formby, the party’s general secretary, he said the fact that details of Mr Williamson’s case were leaked to the media meant that the other 36 cases dealt with by the panel ‘could potentially mount a legal challenge’.
The MP for Leicester East also said that he had been called to sit on the panel at the last minute and had gone to the meeting ‘despite having medical treatment that day’.
Tom Watson led a group of more than 100 senior Labour figures in demanding the Labour leader withdraw the whip from Chris Williamson following his controversial readmission
He added: ‘In my view, having served on the NEC for 15 years I consider the decisions the panel made yesterday cannot stand.
‘In order to ensure complete integrity of the process either a new panel should be convened or all the cases from yesterday should be referred to the Disputes Committee for reconsideration.
Earlier this week Mr Vaz and fellow panel member Huda Elmi voted to let Mr Williamson off with a formal warning.
Veteran Labour MP George Howarth was the only member of the panel to accept that the case should be dealt with more severely.
Backbench MPs and Jewish groups have torn into the party over the light-touch penalty given to the close friend of Mr Corbyn over a pattern of behaviour.
This included complaining that Labour had been ‘too apologetic’ about anti-Semitism allegations at a Momentum meeting in Sheffield in February – after which he was suspended.
In a statement to the party leader, Mr Watson and scores more opposition politicians said they cannot overstate the ‘depth and breadth of hurt and anger’ at the readmission of Mr Williamson following his suspension over allegations of anti-Semitism.
It came as former minister Lord Falconer said the decision to let off the Derby North MP with a formal warning ‘sends a terrible message about the Labour party’.
In their statement the Labour group said: ‘It is clear to us that the Labour Party’s disciplinary process remains mired by the appearance of political interference.’
‘This must stop. We need a truly independent process.
‘We call on Jeremy Corbyn to show leadership by asking for this inappropriate, offensive and reputationally damaging decision to be overturned and reviewed.
‘Ultimately, it is for Jeremy Corbyn to decide whether Chris Williamson retains the Labour whip.
‘He must remove it immediately if we are to stand any hope of persuading anyone that the Labour Party is taking anti-Semitism seriously
Mr Williamson had earlier hailed the backing he received from ‘grassroots’ Labour members today as the row over his readmission to the party with a warning continued to rage.