Jeremy Corbyn has just travelled to Oldham to give his new Labour MP, Jim McMahon, a congratulatory hug.
The Labour leader made a fleeting visit to the Greater Manchester town after McMahon stormed to victory in Thursday's by-election.
Labour held on to the Oldham West and Royton seat with a majority of more than 10,000, leaving UKIP in distant second place. The win was a huge boost to Corbyn, who has suffered a nightmare few weeks in Westminster, with many Labour MPs openly questioning his leadership.
In a two-minute speech outside Chadderton town hall, Corbyn said: "This campaign shows just how strong our party is not just here in Oldham but all over the country. It shows the way we have driven the Tories back on tax credits, police cuts, on their whole austerity agenda and narrative.
"It shows just how strong, how deep-rooted, and how broad our party, the Labour party, is for the whole of Britain."
After his speech, Corbyn turned around and walked back through the crowd of activists to a waiting car – ignoring questions from the assembled press.
A Labour source said Corbyn had stayed in Oldham "long enough to congratulate Jim and thank the volunteers".
They said he had to go back to Islington North this afternoon for "constituency business" and needed to prepare for the UN climate change conference in Paris, which he is attending this weekend.
It means Corbyn will have spent the best part of five hours travelling between Oldham and London on Friday morning. Labour councillor Abdul Jabbar, who was among the group who greeted Corbyn, defended the length of his visit. "He's got a very busy schedule," he told BuzzFeed News.
"I believe he's going to the climate change conference in Paris so despite that, he's come all the way from London to meet his supporters and his new MP. I'm grateful he made the 200-mile journey to come and meet us."
Mohammed Zulfakir, a local Labour member, added: "He's a busy man, he's travelling round the country as leader of the Labour party, he's got a lot of things to do. But we are happy he could come."
And Corbyn was greeted by a surprise fellow passenger on his train up to Manchester – George Osborne.
The Tory chancellor, who was travelling up to his Tatton constituency, said he had congratulated the Labour leader on his by-election victory.
Good to be one of the first to congratulate @jeremycorbyn in person on his Oldham win - we're on the same train to Manchester this am