JEREMY CORBYN: the joke candidate, the one persuaded to stand as Labour leader as a bit of a laugh, to be paraded around in a dunce’s hat before skipping back into obscurity, all in the name of democracy.

The Labour Party grandees are now chewing their cheeks in indignation as Corbyn is hailed as “Jez-sus”, the Messiah of the left. The British public loves an underdog, and if the polls are correct (but actually, remind me when the polls were last correct?), he is on his way to being the Hartlepool Monkey Mayor of the Labour Party. Let’s hope his policies have a little more substance than free bananas for every school pupil.

An incredible 1,000 supporters crowded into Middlesbrough Town Hall to hear Corbyn speak on Tuesday. Austerity has hit the North-East hard, with the region having been more reliant than any other on public sector employment. Not many of the dispossessed, queuing for tins of beans and boxes of tampons outside food banks, are convinced by the Conservatives’ “Northern Powerhouse” concept.

But Tony Blair says Labour members should use their brains when they vote in the leadership election. He suggests Corbyn is unelectable, so Labour should choose someone more centre-left who’ll get enough votes to win an election. Your heart may be with Corbyn, says Blair, but if so, get a transplant.

If we followed this philosophy, the Labour Party wouldn’t exist at all. Author George Orwell said in the 1940s that the whole left-wing ideology “was evolved by people who had no immediate prospect of gaining power”, yet the Labour Party went on to bring in the NHS and create the welfare state.

The world is changing, Corbyn told the crowd in Middlesbrough. Austerity has worked for the wealthy, but we are now the most unequal society in Europe as a result. Other countries – most notably Greece – are moving left, shaking off the shackles of austerity.

The recent Welfare Bill is “cruel”, he said, and we have become a society where we walk by on the other side while others are suffering. He is an idealist, it is true, but where would we be without ideals? His vision of a fairer, more equal society, where our politicians are not concerned primarily with their careers and promoting the interests of large corporations, has struck a chord not only with the young but with everyone who wants to live in a world where people actually care.

My experience of politicians is that they are too often afraid of saying something wrong. They receive lessons in how to speak with sincerity and passion on policies they know will win votes. They have whole teams behind them researching the science of elections and what will make people vote for them.

Corbyn, arriving second class on a train into Newcastle on Tuesday, with just one aide in tow, is different. He is not guarded, because he speaks from the heart. He doesn’t wear Armani suits and he doesn’t have regular Botox. He doesn’t have sycophants trailing around after him and he doesn’t indulge in petty late-night rows with rivals on Twitter. In short, he represents a move away from what politics has become. He’s a risk, but he’s also exciting.

Unelectable? We will soon find out.