Laura Alvarez
 Laura Álvarez  (lawyer) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Spouse | Jeremy Corbyn |
Third wife of Jeremy Corbyn | |
Laura Álvarez (born 1969) is the Mexican-born wife of Jeremy Corbyn, who attended the inauguration of President López Obrador on 1 December 2018 in Mexico City, where Jeremy Corbyn was guest of honour.[1]
Background
A former human rights lawyer in Mexico, Laura Álvarez first met Corbyn shortly after his divorce from his second wife Claudia Bracchitta, having come to London to support her sister Marcela following the abduction of her niece to America by her sister's estranged husband. The sisters contacted fellow Labour MP Tony Benn for assistance, who introduced them to Jeremy Corbyn who met with the police on their behalf and spoke at fundraisers until the girl was located in 2003.[2]
Laura Alvarez returned to Mexico, with the couple maintaining a long distance relationship until she moved to London in 2011. The pair married at a hacienda on the outskirts of Mexico City in February 2012. Ivan Pliego, a politics professor who was a witness at Mr Corbyn and Miss Alvarez's wedding, told The Telegraph earlier this year the pair had a passion for social justice, noting there are “a lot of similarities in their political projects”:
- “They both want to address the greatest need,” he said. “They both genuinely care about improving the lives of the poorest sectors of society.”
"A good politician"
She has described Corbyn as "not very good at house work but he is a good politician".[3]
Media boycott
In February 2020, Laura Alvarez called for a boycott of the corporate media in a rare intervention displaying her apparent support for Rebecca Long-Bailey, the left-wing Labour leadership candidate.
She made the remarks after the decision by Corbyn’s Islington North Constituency Labour Party (CLP) to back Sir Keir Starmer, Long-Bailey’s main leadership rival. The surprise result was seen as symbolic and cited as evidence of Starmer’s growing appeal on the Labour left.
However, a breakdown of the result revealed that Long-Bailey won the most first-preference votes in Corbyn’s CLP. Starmer won because no one candidate received more than half of votes in the first round, leading to members’ votes being redistributed.[4]
