He tanked in 2019 when Labour's election campgain was poorly organised and incoherent. In 2016 he came within a whisker of outsting Theresa May. The young people of this country loved him. I remember talking to some young fans in the stand at a Winchester game and it was clear that this generation were finding Corbyn inspirational. They were singing his name at Glastonbury and the media was full of coverage of issues such as the World Transformed conference and the emergence of Momentum. People in France were also enthused by what Corbyn was offering. Granted, the issue of Brexit was a problem he could not overcome but had it not been on the agenda in 2016, he would have got in. Difficult for me to express the affection people had for Jeremy at grass roots to someone living in Canada but it was palpable - probably only comparable to the arrival of New Labour in 1996 but without the cynicism. A great chance for the UK (and the Western world, in fact) that passed by. Easily the UK political leader with the greatest about of passion and conviction for his beliefs in my life-time. In addition, he also had a cadre of politicians behind him that supported him and shared his ideas.
This is literally the first by-election where their results were underwhelming. From 2022 on, here are all of the results: Conservative hold (in a riding where the previous Conservative MP was murdered, I might add, and neither Labour nor the Lib Dems contested it), Labour hold, Labour gain, Lib Dem gain, Labour hold, Labour hold, Labour hold, Labour gain, Lib Dem gain, Conservative hold. So in 10 by-elections, Labour has won 6 (+2), the Lib Dems have won 2 (+2), and the Conservatives had won 2 (-4). That seems...pretty good?
And by 2019 he was the most disliked major party politician in the polling history of the United Kingdom. The public was not crying out for Jeremy Corbyn, and he got shellacked, by Boris Johnson of all people.
And if he did come out with more radical policies he would be branded a Communist with a magic money tree with no control on spending by the right wing press. It may not be true. Starmer may not be your ideal candidate but if Labour can hold together instead of infighting for once then they are extremely competitive at the general election. Then policies can be more expansive.
By 2019 the media had amassed their resources against Corbyn as they were aware that John Mc Donnell had plans to bring the papers to heal. I think that the anti-semantic argue was fabricated and not helped by the likes of MPs like Burger whose loyalty towards socialism was sceptical. Yes, Corybn was destroyed in 2019 but this was not the case in 2016 before the right wing press had the chance to get their claws into him - albeit Kuenssberg on the BBC had a good try to begin with.
The best we can hope for is Labour get in and the party ousts Starmer and appoints someone who represents labour with more credibility.
Good point well bulleted. You could add one re the disingenuous claim the gatemouthed gobshite made about not having access to banking.
On Corbyn, he also had one of the biggest swells in popularity ever because he offered a genuine ideological stance. His own lack of personal dynamism and the fact the press were scared of what he represented led to an enormous backlash. The younger generation are ready for change in society, but the establishment will fight it all the way. We need a dynamic socialist leader with a whiter than white history.
And the reason Labour didn't win Uxbridge was more of a backlash against the ULEZ expansion than a reflection of Starmer's popularity.
Here’s a suggestion. Let’s be pragmatic The only Labour leader to win an election in the last 44 years is Blair. Was he the leader you wanted? If Labour got a leader that certain parts of the party wanted they would lose to this shambles of a Tory party It’s a fact that currently the press will shaft them and Starmer is a more difficult target than Corbyn It’s a fact that people won’t vote for a truly left wing leader as they’ve been scared off by the press & other right wing factions You have a choice. A ‘Socialist’ leader in opposition or a moderate leader in government The proof of the progressive policy pudding is in the eating. If Labour get into power they at least have a chance to shift the agenda. That can be with Starmer initially, but may then be able to shift to more radical policies later Let’s at least band together for a victory. We can argue about the policies when we actually have the opportunity to implement them. At least a moderate Labour gov is better than what we have now
If the DSL embraces electoral reform and closer ties with the EU I'm signing up. Rejoining the customs union and single market may not be manifesto promises but it's the great leap forward needed.
Quite frankly, the one and only time I wouldn’t have lost much sleep had a plane crash been more successful.
Band together for a victory and worry about the policies once in. WTF Now, personally id rather understand the policies of all parties to enable everyone to make informed decisions.
Public disgrace and humiliation fits the bill or me. Worth noting he was refused a German passport having lied about his address in German and had not met the residence criteria,and been separated from his German born wife for a number of years. He's a ****ing wrongun in so many ways. https://skwawkbox.org/2016/12/30/pr...ip-and-hes-under-police-investigation-for-it/ https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-38879101
Looking at the Summer Transfer thread, I wonder how many left leaning folk on here use things like ‘RemovePaywall” sites to get free access to content. I would have thought that is along the same path as being privileged, entitled, and elite. Not on the wind up either btw, is an interesting concept of what boundaries people set as acceptable etc.
Good tip Billy although how using whatever means to circumvent paywalls aligns in any way with being or aspiring to be a member of the privileged, entitled elite is beyond me. Here's the how for those who want to get on the removal train. https://www.wikihow.com/Access-News-Articles-for-Free
This line from the link you just posted is everything that's wrong with this - "Even if you do support great journalism, it can be pricey to subscribe to every publication you want to read." I mean, seriously, "even if you do support driving a Ferrari, actually paying for one can be pricey". This whole entitled attitude of "I want it, therefore I should have it for free" is incredibly destructive, be it music, journalism, film, whatever. If you refuse to pay for something, you don't have a right to complain about declining journalistic standards.
