Bernie Sanders ‘Delighted’ to See the Labour Party Do So Well in U.K. Election

Sen. Bernie Sanders has congratulated his fellow left-wing politician U.K.’s Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on his unexpectedly strong performance in the British general election campaign.

Although Brits are still waiting for the final result of the country’s vote, Corbyn’s center-left party has made significant gains, winning 31 more seats than in the 2015 election at the time of writing. Labour’s success is thought to be largely connected to the young people who backed him, with turnout among younger voters looking like it could have been as high as 70%.

In a statement released to Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel, Sanders – who did not officially endorse Corbyn in the election but commented on the similarities between the two leaders – said he was “delighted” for the Labour leader.

“I am delighted to see Labour do so well,” Sanders said. “All over the world people are rising up against austerity and massive levels of income and wealth inequality. People in the U.K., the U.S. and elsewhere want governments that represent all the people, not just the 1%.” He added: “I congratulate Jeremy Corbyn for running a very positive and effective campaign.”

Sanders, who lost out to Hillary Clinton in the race to become the Democratic Party’s candidate in the 2016 presidential election, despite winning more than 13 million votes during the primaries, was in the U.K. last week as part of a tour to promote his book, Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In.

During a Q&A session concluding a London talk Sanders made on June 2, he received a ‘text’ from Corbyn saying: “Can you wish Bernie solidarity and thanks and a huge welcome to Britain and after Thursday can he come back when I form a new government?” To that, Sanders replied: “Please text back Mr Corbyn [and say] that I would be more than delighted.”

At around 3.30 am local time Friday morning, Corbyn was re-elected as the Member of Parliament for Islington North, with more than 40,000 votes. In his victory speech, Corbyn said: “Politics has changed. Politics isn’t going back into the box where it was before.”