Tweet
as one or two of you may have noticed the labour party is having a leadership election following its poor showing at the last elections. the early favourite, chuka umunna, pulled out after discovering that people sometimes say unkind things about prospective leaders of political parties. another, mary creagh, threw in the towel after it emerged that nobody knew nor cared who she was.
that left a distinctly uninspiring field with a solid continuity (read: road to nowhere) candidate, andy burnam, an arch-blarite oxygen thief, liz kendal, and yvette cooper, who is so uninteresting that i'm not going to say anything at all about her. that was until a number of labour MPs thought that it might be a good idea to include a left-wing candidate in the race, not because (m)any of them believe in such passé notions as socialism, but rather to have someone who gives the impression of a broad church and a full debate on the future of the labour party during the leadership election; someone to play the diane abbot role if you will.
enter jeremy corbyn, the MP for islington north, and strong critic of almost everything that this government and the last (new labour) one stood for. he was seen as the perfect, and perfectly safe, outlet for all that crazy lefty talk that often starts after a tory victory. many MPs nominated him safe in the knowledge that he wouldn't trouble the sensible, mainstream candidates in their endless quest to not oppose for oppositions sake, to support tough measures on "welfare" or terrorism or rolling back human rights, and to find that sweet spot 0.001 inch to the left of the tory party where it won't frighten the right-wing press, fronted by the political equivalent of an x-factor semi-finalist, or whatever the **** else the current 2020 strategy is.
except jeremy corbyn might. just. win. it. he's the most popular among local labour associations and one poll puts him in the lead with party members, 17% ahead of his nearest rival and winning even after second preferences are counted; his odds with the bookies have shortened a fair bit in recent weeks as well, though he's still third favourite.
since all this happened, things have become very amusing. several MPs who nominated him have since expressed their regret, delivering yet another '**** you' to the left of the party, that is to say, a considerable proportion of the membership. various grandees have been scribbling furiously in the press warning people against doing something so silly as electing a socialist to lead the labour party. even war criminal tony blair has taken time out from whoring himself to say that he won't back any one candidate, and then spewing out vitriol against corbyn. there has even been talk of a palace coup if the unthinkable happens. nothing like destroying your party if it votes the 'wrong' way.
it should be an interesting couple of months at any rate.
that left a distinctly uninspiring field with a solid continuity (read: road to nowhere) candidate, andy burnam, an arch-blarite oxygen thief, liz kendal, and yvette cooper, who is so uninteresting that i'm not going to say anything at all about her. that was until a number of labour MPs thought that it might be a good idea to include a left-wing candidate in the race, not because (m)any of them believe in such passé notions as socialism, but rather to have someone who gives the impression of a broad church and a full debate on the future of the labour party during the leadership election; someone to play the diane abbot role if you will.
enter jeremy corbyn, the MP for islington north, and strong critic of almost everything that this government and the last (new labour) one stood for. he was seen as the perfect, and perfectly safe, outlet for all that crazy lefty talk that often starts after a tory victory. many MPs nominated him safe in the knowledge that he wouldn't trouble the sensible, mainstream candidates in their endless quest to not oppose for oppositions sake, to support tough measures on "welfare" or terrorism or rolling back human rights, and to find that sweet spot 0.001 inch to the left of the tory party where it won't frighten the right-wing press, fronted by the political equivalent of an x-factor semi-finalist, or whatever the **** else the current 2020 strategy is.
except jeremy corbyn might. just. win. it. he's the most popular among local labour associations and one poll puts him in the lead with party members, 17% ahead of his nearest rival and winning even after second preferences are counted; his odds with the bookies have shortened a fair bit in recent weeks as well, though he's still third favourite.
since all this happened, things have become very amusing. several MPs who nominated him have since expressed their regret, delivering yet another '**** you' to the left of the party, that is to say, a considerable proportion of the membership. various grandees have been scribbling furiously in the press warning people against doing something so silly as electing a socialist to lead the labour party. even war criminal tony blair has taken time out from whoring himself to say that he won't back any one candidate, and then spewing out vitriol against corbyn. there has even been talk of a palace coup if the unthinkable happens. nothing like destroying your party if it votes the 'wrong' way.
it should be an interesting couple of months at any rate.
They don't have a death wish ? Don't want to commit political suicide ? Want to have a chance of getting into no 10 ? etc.
Comment