TENS of thousands stormed social media in support of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour leadership bid yesterday, as the right-wing press got their knickers in a twist over the anti-austerity candidate.

The internet was abuzz with #Jeremy Corbyn, #JezWeCan and #ComeOnCorbyn with over 10,000 people joining the “Jeremy Corbyn for Labour Leader” Facebook page — 6,000 more than rival Andy Burnham.

Similarly, an online petition to lobby Labour MPs to nominate Mr Corbyn so he can get on the ballot paper gained over 2,000 signatures in around 24 hours. Even New Statesman blog The Staggers — which generally leans to the right — believed the Islington MP had a good chance.

It seemed Mr Corbyn’s only detractors were the millionaire-owned Telegraph, whose commentator Dan Hodges was quick to brand Mr Corbyn’s “acolytes” as “in denial.”

The MP faces his first Labour leadership hustings today hosted by the Fabian Society, before heading off to Dublin for the general union GMB’s annual conference.

The official nominations process kicks off this Tuesday with Mr Burnham, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, Leicester West MP Liz Kendall and Wakefield MP Mary Creagh running alongside Mr Corbyn. 

The 66-year-old long time anti-nuclear campaigner, however, took it all in his stride, as he penned an exclusive piece for the Star on the reasons behind his campaign. “Much is made in the analysis of the election of ‘aspiration’ and this is usually defined by the armchair commentators as being an individual rather than a collective aspiration,” he writes in today’s paper. “Maybe it’s time that we dedicated ourselves much more to ending the gross inequality in Britain, the homeless and housing crisis, and the need for a million people to use foodbanks just to survive. We should never be ashamed or afraid to stand up for the poorest and most marginalised.

"That, after all is what brought socialists and trade unionists together,” he said. “Let us dispense with inappropriate words like ‘handouts’ in this debate: Welfare is a right that is about each and everyone one of us being housed, educated, fed and kept in good health — the hallmarks of a civilised society.”