It’s Time For Jeremy To Go: Here Is Why

During the summer of 2015 I was working for the MP David Lammy on his campaign to become Labour’s candidate for London Mayor. I remember how unbelievably exciting it was at that time to be on the inside of the Labour Party, watching all of the different races unfold and seeing the direct democracy in action. I remember going along with a colleague to a Jeremy Corbyn rally in Camden Town Hall, I remember not even being able to get into the rally because so many people were there, and I remember the excitement and the fervour of it all, the thousands of people packing into the street outside to hear this man in his 60s stand on top a fire engine and give a short speech. I remember that being the moment I decided to give him my first preference, because of all of it; the energy, the movement, the excitement.

I remember Jeremy forming his first shadow cabinet. The previous ministers resigning, how upset I was with them for not sticking around and trying to make it work, the photos of Jeremy and his team looking disheveled at 3am. The uproar (and rightly so) when he failed to include any women in his top team, the somewhat lukewarm response from John McDonnell about women being in important roles that weren’t one of the top jobs.

I remember the vote on bombing syria. I remember spending the whole day on twitter, following all the updates, seeing who was voting which way, who was with Jeremy and who was against him. I remember Hilary Benn giving one of the greatest speeches I’ve ever heard, that gave me goosebumps even though I disagreed with him, and I vaguely recall Jeremy giving a speech that could at best be described as existing.

I remember the first reshuffle. I remember it going on forever, and I remember Jeremy sacking talented, well allied parliamentarians whilst simultaneously insulting them, who then went on to publically attack him and no doubt begin plotting his downfall.

I remember when Iain Duncan Smith resigned, twitter going mad, the press leaping onto it, the government being forced into a U-turn on their awful policy. I remember how excited I was for PMQs, finally Jeremy has the chance he needs, finally he would have the opportunity to shove a staggering government backwards and land a really good blow on them, cementing his position. I remember the end of that session, the utter dissapointment I felt that he had completely failed to grasp the opportunity.

I remember watching that awful Vice documentary, which ended up being 30 minutes of an old man whinging about how much the media hated him. I remember thinking that his complaining about their dislike for him probably wasn’t going to change it, and I remember wondering when exactly he was going to do something about it.

I remember the May council elections. The loss of seats up and down the country, the only two campaigns to be successful (Wales and London) hugely distancing themselves from the leadership of the party, the desperate attempts by those supporting the leadership to whitewash the awful results as good progress.

I remember the EU referendum unfolding, and I remember how bitter I felt that I, a full-time student, found more time to dedicate to campaigning on the issue than the leader of the opposition, and there’s no way that applies to just me. Thousands of people up and down the country with full-time commitments will have spent more time on this than Jeremy, and that is not acceptable. I remember watching him not just fail to make the case for staying in the EU, but fail to even go after a Tory party deeply divided on the issue.

Which leads us up to today. As I write this, 10 shadow ministers have resigned, and one has been sacked. If I was the same person I was in September 2015, I would have been 100% on Corbyn’s side. I would have demanded to know who they thought they were, going against the membership, refusing to give it a shot. But I am not that person anymore, and the Labour Party is not in the same place.

Jeremy Corbyn has been leader for nine months. In those nine months, he has had countless opportunities to be a better leader, and at almost every turn he has dropped the ball.

There will undoubtedly the cry of ‘well he would have done better if the PLP had got behind him.’ To this I have two answers:

1. All new Labour leaders have to pick up a divided party, that is the nature of any leadership contest. Why did Jeremy fail so spectacularly to unite a party where others succeeded? Sometimes, if someone doesn’t like you, it’s not just their problem.
2. There were countless moments where Jeremy and his team dropped the ball that had nothing to do with the PLP. Why didn’t they go for Cameron after Iain Duncan Smith’s resignation? Why did McDonnell bring along Mao’s Little Red Book to the budget? The PLP had nothing to do with that, it was entirely on the leadership.

Nine months ago I would have been on Jeremy’s side, but it comes to a time when you just have to accept that, as nice as a person is, they’re just not leadership material. This has absolutely nothing to do with political stance either. Show me a left-wing leader who can actually lead a party and win the country and I will vote for them faster than you can say Pontypridd.

It is fantastic that Jeremy Corbyn is so principled, but honestly what is the point of your principles if they are never going to happen? There are millions of people up and down this country who are desperate for a Labour government to help make their lives better, and we can’t even provide them with an effective opposition.

Not just for the good of the party, but for the good of the country, it is time for Jeremy Corbyn to step down. That’s just straight-talking, honest politics.