At last. Finally. Labour MPs have rebelled against Jeremy Corbyn. Since being elected 9 months ago, everyone knew that Jeremy's views did not reflect those of the Parliamentary Labour Party, especially on defense, nationalization and the economy. Inevitably, this was going to lead to a coup to try and overthrow his leadership and elect a leader more on the political centre i.e. where elections are, allegedly, won. But the question was when. How long were Labour MPs going to let the Tories lead in opinion polls? How long were backbenchers going to let a leadership they clearly didn't agree with engulf their party? Well, 9 months it seems.
I suspect many MPs were planning this coup from the beginning, but wanted to keep party unity throughout the EU referendum to try and get a Remain vote. As soon as Leave won the referendum, everyone jumped on the ''Let's get Corbyn out'' bandwagon and blamed him for swathes of Labour heartlands voting leave. As I write this at 4pm when 7 shadow cabinet members have resigned and 1 has been sacked, I wonder how long Jeremy Corbyn will remain leader. My guess =until the next election. According to rebel Labour MPs, the main reason for this coup was Jeremy's ''lackluster, weak performace'' in the referendum campaign and failing to persuade Labour voters to vote remain. But when we look at the facts, 63% of Labour voters who went to the polls voted for remain compared to only 42% of Conservative voters. Even 4% of UKIP voters voted remain! (My favourite stat) Therefore rebel MPs cannot blame Corbyn for failing to get the Labour vote out. Corbyn also cannot be blamed for heartlands voting out when, at the last election, UKIP were coming 2nd in safe Labour seats, long before Corbyn was on the scene. 36% of leavers say they always knew how they would vote, so Leave was somewhat inevitable, whoever the leader. Jeremy is seen as a firm Eurosceptic, meaning he therefore has more in touch with those voters than most Labour MPs. The problem with the Labour party is that some people will/will not vote for it with Jeremy Corbyn as the leader. Jeremy appeals to the political left, to Greens, disenfranchised Lib Dems, and, if he was firmer on immigration, UKIP. However, with Jeremy it will be hard to attract former Labour voters voting Conservative, the aspiration type that would have voted for Tony Blair. The membership needs to therefore weigh up what is best for the party in terms of being electable, and the country. Now I am no uber fan of Corbyn. I agree with him on some things, like nationalization, defense and civil rights, but disagree with him on education, voting age, and his pro borrowing economic stratgy. But I like him. I like that he brings something different to politics. That he's not this spin politician who only care about a good TV appearance. That he doesn't resort to personal politics. I want him to stay as Labour leader, and would consider voting for him, So my advice to him? Stay on and fight. If there's a leadership contest, which looks increasingly likely, put your name on the ballot. If you win, celebrate and keep repeating the message of what you stand for and make it clear to voters what Labour is about. Make it clear that Labour doesn't hate businesses, wants people to succeed, and most importantly, hopes to create a fairer society. Show people that you want to be that Prime Minister, making those changes and creating a better future for everyone. If Jeremy and the Labour Party unite and spread that message during a snap general election, then who knows, we could be in hung parliament territory by the end of the year.
2 Comments
Your mum
16/7/2016 00:01:35
No one cares.
Reply
Ella
7/8/2016 10:19:38
This was a very insightful post Noah, I agree with you on many things :)
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Author:Noah enjoys writing a blog and drinking tea Archives
September 2022
Categories
All
|