Labour must face reality: Corbyn’s Experiment has failed

It’s been just nine months since Jeremy Corbyn became the Leader of the Labour Party. Elected on an experimental, left wing agenda.

It was hailed as a win for progressive politics- the Labour Party that had, apparantly, for so long been at the hands of the centre-right, of Blairites, had been won back to the values it was founded on.

He ran a campaign of turning the Labour Party into a ‘people’s movement’- an admorable aim. In an age of politics that had become toxic, I’m not surprised that this gathered so much momentum, particularly from Trade Unionists and the young who signed up en mass to support Corbyn.

Jeremy Corbyn went onto recieve the biggest mandate of any Labour leader in history- with 59.5% of the first preference votes, beating Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall.

What occurred henfeforth was, at best, ‘rocky’.

His election to the leadership was met by icey breaths from the Parliamentary Labour Party- figures including Yvette Cooper, Liz Kendall and Mary Creagh refused to serve in his shadow cabinet what-so-ever, while moderates like Hilary Benn and Maria Eagle defied his leadership over Syrian air strikes and.

To many that was the moment Jeremy Coryn lost what little control Corbyn had over the Labour Party. What ensued was two re-shuffles, resignations, and a weak, disunified Labour Party heading into a referendum campaign on Britain’s membership of the European Union.

And it’s that referendum campaign that has landed the Labour Party into a near- existential crisis.

Jeremy Corbyn insisted on refusing to share a platform or campaign with anyone from another party. Instead of getting fully behind Britain Stronger In Europe, as almost every other party including the Conservatives, Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru and the SNP did, Labour and Cirbyn enclosed itself in a bubble.

Staying with the Labour-only campaign was a grave mistake for Corbyn. It meant he didn’t get the air time or the level playing field that many other figures did in the campaign- Boris Johnson of Vote Leave also got more air time than Nigel Farage of Grassroots Out. That is how the campaign worked- and Corbyn new that all too well.

Corbyn’s insistence on the use of the Labour Party’s own campaign machinery, as well as the objective failure to provide a voice in almost all media outlets. The cancellation of meetings, along with the misjudgement by Corbyn may have cost ‘Remain’ this referendum.

This referendum result goes deeper to the heart of Corbyn’s leadership than that, though.

Corbyn’s appeal is that he isn’t the establishment- he is the true honest “straight- talking politics” that our political system was lacking. As much as you may disagree with this assessment of Corbyn, that’s why he appealed to so many people within Labour ranks.

That brings in the question as to why the referendum campaign was such a flop for him- someone from the anti-establishment ranks backing remain should surely have been able to cut through and highlight the case for remain- from an anti-establishment perspective?

Instead Corbyn failed, he failed on such a scale that he has lost the trust of some of Labour’s heartlends- the entire North East apart from Newcastle voted ‘Leave’, as did the majority of the North West and Yorkshire.

The results go against everything Corbyn had stood for- instead of being an anti-establishment figure able to cut through, Corbyn had become the ‘quiet man’, while the country voted against establishment politics. Corbyn did nothing to help address that.

That shows Corbyn’s campaign and leadership is failing. The Corbyn experiment of having the most left wing leader of the Labour Party in modern history, persuing the left wing strategy he is doing is failing to cut through to voters, to cut through the media, and ultimately deliver success at the ballot box.

It’s not somehow treaturous to want to oust a failing leader- if anything, its a belief in one’s party that leads you to want to do so. It’s a belief that with a new leader the Labour Party could be in westminster government in 4 years time, a belief that the Labour can be better than it is now.

Labour and the corbynites must now face reality- their leader has failed in his mission, and failed to fulfil his mandate. It’s time for him to resign.