Jeremy Corbyn has found himself at the centre of a debate over his desire for a sub £500 bike with a “lightweight and comfortable frame.”

Early this week Jeremy Corbyn told Stylist Magazine that his ‘ideal bike’ was a £475 Raleigh, much like his own, only for the broadsheets to ridicule him before the tables swung in his favour via a Crowdfunding page.

Corbyn, clearly rather infatuated with his bicycle said: “This aluminium-framed Raleigh Criterium, like my own trusty red Raleigh, is light and therefore fast, but comfortable for longer rides too – I recently rode mine with Olympic gold medallist Sir Bradley Wiggins (shameless namedrop) and it ensured I kept up with him.”

The Telegraph, responded quickly – drawing comparisons between Corbyn’s red Raleigh and ‘socialist’ Nicola Sturgeon’s Barbour Jacket and £130 Hunter wellington boots. 

They couldn’t determine the exact value of Corbyn’s own bike, but speculated over the machine’s value, stating: “It’s unclear whether his own bicycle cost £475 – but the socialist MP did reveal that his bike is ‘like’ the one he recommended, and is also a red Raleigh, so it is likely it cost a similar amount.”

Though the £475 Raleigh Criterium in question and Corbyn’s own bike look to be quite different, we can confirm that the Criterum is still the cheapest road bike the brand offer, with prices shooting up to £5,000 for top end models.

The paper added a poll at the bottom of their article, asking: “Can a true Socialist covet an expensive bicycle?” We voted accordingly:

It gets better still. The scuffle led The Metro to jump onto the fast accelerating wagon, asking: “Is Jeremy Corbyn a champagne socialist, laughing at the plebs as he covets this extravagant bike?” – to which the vote is currently split 58/42 in favour of ‘No’.

That’s not all – soon a Crowdfunding effort was set up – to get ‘Jez’ his dream bike. The account gives a simple reason for existance, stating: “Let’s annoy the right wing press by buying Jeremy Corbyn his dream bike for his birthday and supporting some good causes.”

We’re still waiting for The Telegraph to gain entry to Number 10 and start counting up the value of David Cameron’s possessions.

So far, over £4,000 has been raised. Jez, may we suggest one of these?