Corbyn’s got it wrong, where does he go from here?
Astonishingly, the Prime Minister resigning and rumours of mutiny in the opposition camp weren’t the biggest political stories of the weekend, instead a sideshow to the spectacle of Brexit and the ensuing fallout. The British public voted en-masse and the wrong answer, at least for those in Westminster, was the one the majority opted for — somebody’s had to take the blame for that.
Cameron fell on his sword within hours. His mandate untenable after the polls went against him. A new Tory leader will now lead a post-EU Britain into the unknown. Jeremy Corbyn has done the opposite and entrenched himself, guaranteeing the headlines throughout today.
Labour ultimately failed to sway its supporters onto its way of thinking. That is, we were better in the EU than out of it. Corbyn’s accused by many in his own party of not making enough of his and its presence in the Remain camp. Undoubtedly, there’s been a price on his head since he ceremoniously swept into Ed Miliband’s lukewarm seat — now his detractor’s have caught the whiff of an open wound and they’re determined to finish the job. He’s maimed, if not mortally so.
Given the political climate, Corbyn’s position isn’t yet impossible, but it’s difficult. He now faces a vote of no confidence from Labour MPs with a secret ballot on Tuesday to pass judgement.
(Getty)
After reportedly encouraging ministers to resign should Jeremy Corbyn ignore the motion against him, Hilary Benn was sacked as Shadow Foreign Secretary on Sunday morning. “I think it’s over,” he told the BBC: “Yes, he has a mandate, but it’s a mandate to lead the party. The job is leader of the Labour Party and Jeremy is not capable of leading us.”
What’s followed has been a proverbial bloodbath in the shadow cabinet. 23 out of 31 members of it have departed, at the time of writing, more could follow.
Owen Smith, former Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, resigned after meeting with the Labour leader on Monday morning:
“I went into this morning’s meeting with Jeremy hoping not to resign, hoping that I was going to hear a plan to bring the party back together. And I’m afraid I didn’t hear that from him. I think we are at a moment where we desperately need a strong Labour Party. It feels that the collision between the people who’re seeking to get rid of Jeremy Corbyn and the people who are trying to stick in there in Jeremy Corbyn’s team risks breaking the Labour Party.”
Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson – Snapchatting from Glastonbury, attending a silent disco and begrudgingly drinking craft beer as his party capitulated during his lost weekend – returned to civilisation early to inform his boss that he [Corbyn] has “no authority” among Labour MPs and now faces a leadership challenge.
Deputy Labour Leader Tom Watson’s Glastonbury Snapchat story
Adding insult to injury, 57 of Labour’s parliamentary candidates have supported a letter that states:
“First, we cannot win an election unless the country believes that our party leader is a credible prime minister, who they can trust to both lead our country on a world stage and help their family at home. Second, that the Labour Party must have a strong and positive vision for the country as a whole… We admire the service that Jeremy Corbyn has offered to our Party as leader in the past year and his long service as an MP and within the union movement. However, we believe we must accept that we cannot achieve our shared ambitions for the future of the United Kingdom without a leader able to command the confidence of the country.”
Corbyn’s response? Fill the departed seats, which have emptied quicker than he can conscript new names, and fill them with sympathisers to his cause, as opposed to those from all paths within the party. A good idea perhaps in principle if you want to hang onto your throne, but one that makes him appear very weak. Nevertheless, the Labour leader remains defiant:
“Those who want to change Labour’s leadership will have to stand in a democratic election, in which I will be a candidate”
Corbyn’s supporters have rallied around him, unions and Labour Party members notably lending support, but the truth remains that he’s refused to tender a notice and trigger a leadership content himself. He now looks set to re-enter the arena in the battle of the top job from a position of weakness, rather than on a wave of progressive change that carried him to the zenith last September, don’t expect a repeat result.
(Main & featured image: Reuters/Peter Nicholls)
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