There are 'some similarities' between Donald Trump and Jeremy Corbyn, Labour shadow cabinet minister says

Emily Thornberry said Mr Corbyn understood the forces that drove Trump's rise

Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry (PA)

There are “some similarities” between the success of Donald Trump in the US presidential election and the rise of Jeremy Corbyn, the shadow foreign secretary has said.

Emily Thornberry, a close ally and constituency neighbour of Mr Coryn, said the Labour leader understood the forces behind the surge in support for the Republican candidate.

“I think it’s right there are hundreds and thousands energised by Jeremy Corbyn being the leader of the Labour party so there are some similarities,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

She added: “I don’t think it would be right to say Jeremy welcomes it but I think he recognises what is happening.

“There are too many people, too many regions, who feel that politics at the moment doesn’t represent their interests. He’s right to say so. The system has to be shaken up.”

The shadow cabinet minister made clear that Mr Corbyn did not think Mr Trump’s victory was a good thing.

Mr Corbyn reacted to the US presidential election result by branding the Republican candidate’s victory an “unmistakable rejection of a political establishment and an economic system that simply isn’t working for most people”.

He however said Mr Trump did not have the correct answer to the problems he had identified.

Jeremy Corbyn has enthusiastic supporters (Rex)

Mr Corbyn’s comments similar to the analysis proffered by Bernie Sanders, a socialist US senator who competed with Hillary Clinton to be the Democratic party’s nominee.

“Donald Trump tapped into the anger of a declining middle class that is sick and tired of establishment economics, establishment politics, and the establishment media,” Mr Sanders said.

“People are tired of working longer hours for lower wages, of seeing decent paying jobs go to China and other low-wage countries, of billionaires not paying any federal income taxes and of not being able to afford a college education for their kids – all while the very rich become much richer.”

Mr Trump won the US presidential election on Wednesday, though he lost the popular vote to his rival Hillary Clinton.

Though Mr Corbyn has an enthusiastic base of commited supporters, he has struggled in national polling, consistently trailing Theresa May conservatives by a significant margin.