Jeremy Corbyn has won in his battle to keep hold of the Labour leadership, and by an increased margin. You will notice a constant refrain from Corbynites now: he has a democratic mandate, he increased his vote share, loads of people turn up to his rallies, he doesn't wear a tie etc. The increased mandate, as impressive as it is within one particular party, makes one thing clear: Labour aren't bothered about winning elections anymore.
A blame figure for Labour's woes is the party itself, not just Corbyn. Had the party nominated who it really wanted in 2015, Corbyn would've had no chance of getting on the ballot. Instead, people who would never vote/support Corbyn (as has been proved) patronisingly got him on the ballot to 'broaden the terms of the debate'. You can therefore empathise, to a degree, with Corbyn activists who didn't want to be treated as little children.
Labour hasn't got a chance of winning with Corbyn as leader, whatever dubious graphs Eoin Clarke may provide. "But no one thought Corbyn would be Labour leader..." many people cry. That much is true, but when will Corbynites realise that gaining a big (cult) following within a particular party does not equate to an endorsement from the general public (i.e. the ones who decide elections)? Echo chambers are misleading: a leader of a left wing party is likely to attract people to rallies, but that means preaching to the converted. Jeremy Corbyn's recent Sheffield rally didn't stop Labour losing a safe council seat to the Liberal Democrats in the same area weeks later.
"At least Corbyn stands by what he believes in..." Really? For a CND and Stop the War veteran, it's a pretty big failure to passively accept his party's refusal to endorse the abolition of Trident. Deeper insights into Corbyn's character have been done to death, but I think it's desperately sad that people who have given their lives to Labour have been demonised and scorned by Corbynites, many of whom haven't even supported the party for very long.
Corbyn isn't totally to blame. The party failed its mission in 2015: the opposition should have wiped the floor with the Government, given the scale of spending cuts that were made. However, the poll figures will only get worse (and they're pretty dire now) whilst the party continues to hold contempt for the rest of the country's viewpoints.
The result of the continued Corbyn experiment will be an even bigger Conservative majority, and this approach puzzles me: surely Labour's goals are to put principles in to practice and to stop a Conservative Government from being a reality? I'm still devastated about the country's decision to vote Brexit, and I'm appalled at the vested interests of ministers such as Liam Fox, who are ideologically determined to fulfil their own agendas rather than do what's best for the country.
I get no joy from Labour's woes, even though it is heresy as an under-25 year old citizen to criticise Corbyn. Right now, we have a Government which is smug (with reasons to be smug) and complacent. We deserve an effective opposition which can hold to account the banal creed that is "Brexit means Brexit". Sadly, the way things are going we won't get that effective opposition from Labour in 2020.
Photo credit: Getty
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