Jeremy Corbyn becomes new Labour Leader

[brennan]

Less than a quarter actually. The Conservatives won with 36.9% of a 66.1% turnout. Less than 24% of voters actually voted Tory. That's pretty damning imo.

He didn't have enough support to get on the ballot without the "morons" lending him their vote, that tells you a lot ...

Obviously the 250,000 people who voted for Corbyn should have voted for one of the people who couldn't even beat Corbyn. Because someone who couldn't beat Jeremy Corbyn in their own party would be a shoe-in in a General Election. Liz '4.5%' Kendall perhaps?

 

[Viregel]

Obviously the 250,000 people who voted for Corbyn should have voted for one of the people who couldn't even beat Corbyn. Because someone who couldn't beat Jeremy Corbyn in their own party would be a shoe-in in a General Election. Liz '4.5%' Kendall perhaps?

I suspect Kendall would be far more popular with the general electorate than Corbyn would. The Labour Leadership contest would have already been at least slightly to the left, but with Corbyn being a possibility, it was well to the left of UK popular opinion. If only the parliamentary party had voted, they would have been happy with the choice, not just because it would be the one most of them wanted, but because they would by far be the best to consider which candidate would be able to keep them in their jobs.

 

[Takhisis]

And how do we know what the popular opinion is if a third of eligible voters don't even bother to vote?

 

[gay_Aleks]

Probably more than the country where 2/3rd of the nation didn't vote.

 

[Takhisis]

If ⅔ of the electora show up to vote, that means that around ½ of the general population are voting. Using scare tactics and a venally corrupt system, you can get… ⅙? of the population to give you a majority in the Commons.

 

[innonimatu]

It is better than the previous pro EU stance which in my mind contributed to Edward
Miliband's defeat. The fact is that the Labour party in power 1997 to 2010 never gave
the UK people a referendum about converting our EEC membership into EU membership.

He's an euroskeptic? Good!

 

[Viregel]

And how do we know what the popular opinion is if a third of eligible voters don't even bother to vote?

Popular voting opinion, at the very least. There was an argument that Labour could win from the left if they could bring out the non-voters; but seeing as they're primarily concentrated in Labour seats, I have my doubts it would make much difference. To reword it, Corbyn will find it hard to win over people who vote in important seats. Different, but the result is the same.

 

[EnglishEdward]

Popular voting opinion, at the very least. There was an argument that Labour could win from the left if they could bring out the non-voters; but seeing as they're primarily concentrated in Labour seats, I have my doubts it would make much difference. To reword it, Corbyn will find it hard to win over people who vote in important seats. Different, but the result is the same.

It has become apparent in the aftermath that the Labour party really
needed to win most of the collapsing Lib Dem seats in the 2010 election.

However Edward Miliband's team was comprehensively
out played by David Cameron's team on that matter.

The conservative party will introduce boundary changes
that will favour them before the next election.

So Labour will also need to demolish the myth that the
conservatives can be trusted more on the economy.

The danger is that the Labour faithful will remain side tracked
along the so called "spare bedroom tax" and similar lines.

 

[Kyriakos]

^What about a more proportional representation? (and not that local seat-based win all/lose all?)

(although the US system is even worse than the UK one)

I suppose that most European countries have a mix of both local seat and positions of MPs elected strictly on electoral power. Moreover likely most also have multiple seats in peripheries, not just a single race.

 

[Mise]

I agree with most of Corbyn's says so: clearly I inhabit a different areas of the left. I'd rather stay in the EU and I'm apprehensive about McDonnell as Shadow Chancellor, but I'm far more enthusiastic about Labour now than I was before the campaign... I'd more or less resigned myself to protest voting for the Greens for the foreseeable future.

With regards to the economy, I think if there are economic issues in five years time the Tories are likely to take the blame for it much like Labour ended up saddled with the blame after the 2007 crisis. While there is a natural predisposition for the electorate to trust the Tories more with the economy, I think that won't get them anywhere if they're perceived to have messed things up in the first place. They can't blame the 'Labour legacy' for ever, after all.

I don't see the general public trusting a socialist with the economy unless the economy goes Greek basically. To me, that's what it will take for the public to see socialism as the solution. In other words, I think your narrative is unlikely to play out in reality.

 

[Kyriakos]

Apparently the Varouphakis is now part of Corbyn's team (?).

If so, good for him. Maybe he can return in the future. Sad he left despite his bombastic attitude, he has excellent studies unlike the bulk of the euroscum.

 

[Takhisis]

Popular voting opinion, at the very least. There was an argument that Labour could win from the left if they could bring out the non-voters; but seeing as they're primarily concentrated in Labour seats, I have my doubts it would make much difference. To reword it, Corbyn will find it hard to win over people who vote in important seats. Different, but the result is the same.

Then, voting opinion… a sizable chunk (at least 25%) don't vote, in every election. Then a lot of people vote for someone they think might win and hopefully stop the candidate they hate the most instead of actually voting someone who represents them. And so on and so on. How can we gauge such a distorted vote?

 

[Takhisis]

The Grauniad reports that Labour under Corbyn will be campaigning for the UK to stay in the EU regardless of the result of Groovy Dave's renegotiations.
------------------------------------
Also, I like this petition for the Beeb to refer to Cameron as right-wing.

 

[brennan]

For some real balance there should be a petition urging the Conservatives to go as berserk over right wing bias in The Sun, Mail and Telegraph as they do over the slightest hint that the BBC might say something vaguely critical of the government.

It's true that right now a socialist PM seems ridiculous, but having a prominent left-winger in a position to shift the balance of political discourse could easily change that, especially as he has 5 years and several of his policies enjoy widespread popular support in the first place.

 

[EnglishEdward]

The Grauniad reports that Labour under Corbyn will be campaigning for the UK to stay in the EU regardless of the result of Groovy Dave's renegotiations.

In my opinion, Jeremy Corbyn is very diplomatically for the time being letting them
ignore him and continue thinking that the previous pro EU policy will continue.

However he will put this to the party membership rather than let the PLP decide.

It is complicated because the concessions that Cameron wants from the EU
ends to the limit of 13 hour working day, no compulsory equal treatment for part
time and temporary workers; are the exact opposite of what Jeremy Corbyn wants.

So Jeremy is likely to oppose any package David Cameron brings to the table.

 

[Ajidica]

The Grauniad reports that Labour under Corbyn will be campaigning for the UK to stay in the EU regardless of the result of Groovy Dave's renegotiations.
------------------------------------
Also, I like this petition for the Beeb to refer to Cameron as right-wing.

I've seen the Guardian being called the Grauniad before, but what's up with that?

 

[gay_Aleks]

The Grauniad is a nickname for the UK national newpaper, the Guardian, because of a now ill-founded reputation for typos. The name was given to it by the satirical magazine Private Eye. The Guardian newspaper earned its reputation for lots of misprints in the days of hot-metal printing when it was published in Manchester (it was originally called the Manchester Guardian), and the editions that appeared in London were very early editions brought down by train, before all the errors had been spotted.

 

[Ironsided]

I don't see the general public trusting a socialist with the economy unless the economy goes Greek basically. To me, that's what it will take for the public to see socialism as the solution. In other words, I think your narrative is unlikely to play out in reality.

If the general public cannot tell value from profit maybe the general public need to hear more economics from Jeremy Corbyn. Good thing he got elected.

 

[Takhisis]

In my opinion, Jeremy Corbyn is very diplomatically for the time being letting them
ignore him and continue thinking that the previous pro EU policy will continue.

However he will put this to the party membership rather than let the PLP decide.

It is complicated because the concessions that Cameron wants from the EU
ends to the limit of 13 hour working day, no compulsory equal treatment for part
time and temporary workers; are the exact opposite of what Jeremy Corbyn wants.

So Jeremy is likely to oppose any package David Cameron brings to the table.

Well, Cameron wants all the benefits without contributing anything, but then he's a Conservative so that's to be expected.

I've seen the Guardian being called the Grauniad before, but what's up with that?

The Grauniad is a nickname for the UK national newpaper, the Guardian, because of a now ill-founded reputation for typos. The name was given to it by the satirical magazine Private Eye. The Guardian newspaper earned its reputation for lots of misprints in the days of hot-metal printing when it was published in Manchester (it was originally called the Manchester Guardian), and the editions that appeared in London were very early editions brought down by train, before all the errors had been spotted.

It's even become their official website. grauniad.co.uk

 

[Flying Pig]

I don't see the general public trusting a socialist with the economy unless the economy goes Greek basically. To me, that's what it will take for the public to see socialism as the solution. In other words, I think your narrative is unlikely to play out in reality.

I'm not convinced - I think that's exactly what happened in Scotland, with the SNP winning more because they were left-wing than because they were nationalists. Granted, I think his economic policy would need to be heavily argued to convince most people, and arguments tend to turn off voters, so I think Labour's best strategy would be to convince people that his less controversial and theoretical policies (a general movement towards social justice, for example, supporting workers' rights, reversing welfare cuts and so on) were worth electing him, and then arguing that his general economic policy works from its results.