If Jeremy Corbyn becomes prime minister, the walls of 10 Downing Street may soon feature charity shop splatter paintings by a 63-year-old amateur artist whose nickname is Bosh.
It may seem a little premature for the Labour leader to be choosing new decor for the prime minister’s office, but Corbyn told The Sunday Times that he would not be relying on the government’s collection of state-owned masterpieces by leading British artists such as John Constable, Lucian Freud, Barbara Hepworth and Tracey Emin.
Corbyn has been a fan of Bosh ever since he bought one of his abstract paintings for £80 from a charity shop stall at an art festival in Islington, north London, in 2013. “I enjoy abstract art and I’ve got friends around here who have painted some,” he said.
If Labour wins the election, he said he would approach the Peter Bedford Housing Association, a charity for disadvantaged people that sold him the Bosh canvas entitled Yellow Red Orange.
“I’d invite them to sell me something to put up [in Downing Street],” said Corbyn, who also confirmed that his cat, El Gato, would join him at No 10 alongside Larry, the property’s chief mouse-catcher.
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Bosh’s real name is Roy Appleton. He used to spray paint Rolls-Royces. Since being referred by mental health services to the Peter Bedford charity six years ago, he is said to have “come a long way”. Asked about the prospect of his paintings hanging in No 10, he replied: “Seeing my work there would sure get my mojo back. It’s lovely news — fame at last.”
Appleton said he used to see Corbyn regularly in Islington, where the Labour leader lives: “I used to see Jeremy walking or riding his bike. We’d wave at each other. When he bought my first painting I got to meet him in person. After that . . . whenever he sees me he says, ‘Hello, I look at that painting every day when I wake up.’”
In the past, prime ministers have tended to rely on the state-owned collection, a treasure trove of 13,500 paintings, sculptures and other works. Theresa May picked out pictures of Oxford, where she met her husband Philip, and an English country church (she is a vicar’s daughter, after all). John Major, an avid cricket fan, chose a portrait of WG Grace, the legendary England captain.
Appleton’s efforts are not quite in the same league, although a worker at the Peter Bedford charity compared the amateur’s splattered style to that of Jackson Pollock, the American master of abstract paint-splashing. “It’s amazing that Jeremy bought [Bosh’s] work,” said the charity worker.
“He said he purchased it not because it was the right thing to do or anything like that, but because he’s a genuine art lover and it matches his personal tastes.”
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Appleton likes to put his canvases outside when it is raining so that the water creates a “weatherbeaten” effect. He says they can be viewed from any direction and that, unlike Corbyn’s political views, “there is no correct upright position”.
In an interview with The Sunday Times last week, Corbyn, 68, showed few signs of stress as election day approaches on Thursday. He chatted cheerfully about coddled eggs — his favourite breakfast — and mushroom risotto, his favourite dish: “A well-made one. Not too watery.”
He insisted that the polls giving Labour a glimpse of an upset victory had not changed his outlook. “I am as I was, I am as I am,” he said. “You have to stick to your beliefs and you have to stay in touch with the people who support you initially.”
He has rarely given the impression of being a politician obsessed with the levers of power, but insisted: “Everything, everything, everything is about winning on June 8.”
Corbyn brushed aside hypothetical questions about his future if he loses on Thursday. “We’re not doing ifs, we’re doing absolute determination to win this election,” he said. “I was elected leader of this party, I will carry on . . . to win the election. I have no plans ever to retire.”
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Not even to take up painting.