Go to the profile of Sam W. Shenton
Sam W. Shenton
Politics Student, Aberystwyth University. Yorkshireman Blogging on UK, Welsh, European and American politics. Gay man, northern accent.

Corbyn automatically being on the ballot is an insult to our parliamentary democracy

It’s inconceivable for a party leader to lack the confidence of the party he leads in parliament- and it probably means the death of the Labour Party itself.

After an afternoon- long meeting, Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee came back with the decision that Jeremy Corbyn should be able to defend his leadership of the party that has lost confidence in him, without having to garner 51 MPs and MEPs’ nominations to stand again- unlike every candidate that seeks to run against him.

This decision ignores the very principles of the democracy we live in and should aim to protect. Our parliamentary system means that no Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, or party group leader has a personal mandate beyond that which they gain in their own constituency at each election.

The leader of the opposition must be chosen by MPs- and he or she must command the confidence of a majority of MPs on the opposition benches. Without this, their position is untenable- much like the Prime Minister’s would be without a majority of MPs holding confidence in his government.

Jeremy Corbyn has lost that confidence. Initially in the leadership election last year, he only gained 36 MPs’ nominations- many of which “lent” him them so that he could appear on the ballot, but then voted for other candidates. In a vote of no confidence, 172 MPs proclaimed that they had lost confidence in the parliamentary leader. Only 40 sided with him- and four soon regretted it.

40 MPs expressing confidence in Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership is not good enough to satisfy his position as Leader of the Opposition- even the SNP’s Westminster Leader Angus Robertson has more MPs supporting his leadership, with 53 MPs in support of himself. 95 MPs are needed to form a Shadow Cabinet and front bench team- which means Corbyn currently leads a party which cannot possibly form an adequate government, failing the rules of the House of Commons for not being “ready to form a government at any time”.

The Labour NEC allowing Corbyn directly onto the ballot for a new leadership election therefore completely undermines our democratic system. It undermines the Parliamentary Labour Party- which has a collective mandate of 9.3 million votes in the 2015 General Election, and means that they must belong to a party grouping that cannot possibly adhere to the House of Commons protocol for official opposition.

Corbynistas and Corbyn supporters claim that Labour MPs must “respect the mandate” given to Corbyn- but in reality that mandate is debunked by the parliamentary system we operate in. It is the Parliamentary Labour Party as an opposition that has a mandate as such- not its leader. Its leader is the choice of the group and they must have confidence in them.

Its that lack of confidence and Jeremy Corbyn’s continued resistance to resigning that is both undermining and insulting our parliamentary democracy- but also, probably, causing a historic split — and possible death — of the Labour Party.

A Labour Party that does not unite around a leader cannot win an election- in this situation they cannot unite around their leader. The only option left if Angela Eagle cannot defeat Corbyn in a leadership election is a split, and 172-or-so MPs that have no confidence in him forming a new party. They would become the official opposition, with their leader the Leader of the Opposition. There is a danger in that the Labour vote could split- and that any moderate revival in the Labour vote would not be felt by either party.

The situation of a split leads to the consequences of a Tory decimation in the south and midlands, no resurgence in Scotland, UKIP challenging in the North, particularly the North East, and Plaid Cymru making moderate gains in South Wales after their Assembly result this year.

As much as I personally would like a more pluralistic opposition, under the First Past the Post system this is not an option. The only party that can form an alternative government at Westminster to the Conservatives is a united and strong Labour Party.

Jeremy Corbyn cannot provide that Labour party to the electorate, and cannot provide the strong opposition the Parliamentary Labour Party demands and requires. For that, his stubbornness and refusal to step down mean his leadership — and the Labour NEC’s decision to allow him to contest that leadership without parliamentary support — are an insult to the parliamentary system of democracy we operate in.

As much as I personally would like a more pluralistic opposition, under the First Past the Post system this is not an option. The only party that can form an alternative government at Westminster to the Conservatives is a united and strong Labour Party.

Jeremy Corbyn cannot provide that Labour party to the electorate, and cannot provide the strong opposition the Parliamentary Labour Party demands and requires. For that, his stubbornness and refusal to step down mean his leadership — and the Labour NEC’s decision to allow him to contest that leadership without parliamentary support — are an insult to the parliamentary system of democracy we operate in.