Jeremy Corbyn, as expected, has been reelected as Labour Party leader with an even bigger mandate than last September. Winning nearly 62% of the vote on a high turnout, he conclusively defeated Owen Smith and the idea that Labour Party members want a new leader. For now. The Labour Party faces so many big challenges on a wide variety of issues, and Mr Corbyn must show he can deliver to have any chance of a majority at the next general election. So, what are these problems, and most importantly, how can they be dealt with?
The starkest, clearest and most important issue of all is unity. There are such clear divisions about numerous issues (key ones: direction, purpose, ALL policies) that unity seems impossible. There are 2 main factions: Jeremy Corbyn supporters & those who support Labour's most successful, but controversial, leader & former Prime Minister, Tony Blair. The 'Corbyn' wing want the Labour Party to promote more anti-austerity policies; the 'Blairite' wing want the Labour Party to move to the centre; the 'Corbyn' wing want to focus more on grassroots campaigning and policy making in the membership; the 'Blairite' wing want policy to come from above and have a greater focus on electoral victory. I could go on - the list of divisions appears endless to many. What both sides need to do is work together on where they have common ground, and negotiate agreements on policy differences. For example, Labour appears very united in their opposition to grammar schools. Though I disagree with Labour's stance, they seem more clear and cohesive on this than the Conservatives. If unity could be shown on all policy matters, the party could be in a better place by next year even. Abuse and tolerance simply has to be resolved within the party. There is no other option. In a free society, people have the right to disagree and debate issues, and I fundamentally believe in that. But that does not excuse threatening anti-Corbyn MPs on Twitter with violence in any form. Rightly so, the abusive tweeters have been suspended from the party, but the abuse must stop altogether. The wider electorate will not vote for a party which contains members who will verbally abuse those who disagree with them. After all, the Labour party needs to win back Tory voters, whom I'm sure disagree with Corbyn on a lot. The ability to articulate points well, without personal insults, is crucial to Labour's success. Labour have so many different types of voters to win back. Trying to get them all back in just one election will be tough. Most importantly, Labour must win over Conservative voters that previously voted Labour. This involves not only policies that Tory/Labour voters relate to, but the leadership that understands why people vote for different parties. Green voters will also need to be won. This could be harder than it seems with Caroline Lucas as Co-leader, who is known as a impressive operator. Divisions in Labour on defense could weaken support from the Greens who fundamentally (and quite rightly) want a military free world. Many former Liberal Democrat voters who voted Labour last year may return to the Lib Dems, because of their Pro-EU stance, which isn't fully represented by the current leadership. Though Nigel Farage has gone and Britain has voted to leave the European Union, UKIP are still a relevant force which attracts lots of former Labour voters. Jeremy Corbyn must understand issues on immigration and address them. Basically, addressing a lot of issues that people have and finding solutions to solve them. Hard work! The Labour Party's relationship with the media could be managed better. Jeremy Corbyn has been seen as hostile to journalists, sometimes understandably, but journalists normally ask questions that people at home want to hear, so ignoring them doesn't always work. A lot of the newspapers are hostile to Jeremy Corbyn, as they have been to previous Labour leaders, and are read by a lot of voters, so Labour must find ways of connecting with papers that may be read by former Labour voters. That doesn't mean doing dodgy deals with the editors, but simply writing articles aimed at that cross section, saying why Labour is for them. The use of social media in Labour, particularly on twitter, has been successful among young people, but other medias have to be used for non social media people. As you can tell, Labour faces many issues. Big issues that, if not addressed, could result in electoral disaster. For now, Labour has to focus on being a credible opposition; not only one that forces government u-turns but can really be seen as a natural part of government. That in itself is vital - for the party and the country.
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