I have started coming across references to Jeremy Corbyn being a "Marxist" referred to as smears. If he is a Marxist it is certainly not in the classical sense of someone believing that socio-economics forces based on historical materialism drive the forces of history. Nor does he seem to accept the classic Marxist argument that modern society is a conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat and that determines the pattern of society. If he did he would regard many of his standard themes of racism and so on as being essentially irrelevant, or even as attempts by the embattled bourgeoisie to practice "divide and rule" tactics.
Instead he appears to believe in a world essentially with only one divide between a tiny wealthy minority (the 1%) and everyone else ("The People"), and "the People" who seem a curiously homogeneous group given their numbers and diversity who essentially agree with him. The only thing stopping the triumph of the popular will is hinted at as some dark of conspiracy of state agencies and tiny unrepresentative groups. A recent expression of this world view (from 2011) was uncovered by Danny Finkelstein in The Times.
Back when he first stood for the leadership however, he certainly seemed to regard Marx as an important intellectual influence, and I don't think he would have recognised the term as a "smear" at all.
That makes him quite different to John McDonnell, who seems to be a possibly heterodox Marxist or indeed some of Jeremy's online supporters such as Ash Sarkar, who described herself as "literally a Communist".
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