Jeremy Corbyn's Labour

[Uncle Leo]

You seem to be putting rather a gloss on a poor showing. Let's go back to that Guardian article:

Michael Foot! Michael ****ing Howard!

 

[londonblue]

Michael Foot! Michael ****ing Howard!

I know. Embarrassing isn't it?

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Michael Foot! Michael ****ing Howard!

Corbyn makes Michael Foot look like Winston Churchill.

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

it amazes me how Corbyn supporters are trying to claim defeat as victory. the predictions of a loss of 100 seats was always wrong as i said before the election.

we have become the first opposition to lose seats in a non-general election year since 1985. that is shocking. Foot, Hague, IDS, Howard. all those did better than we did under Corbyn. and yet his supporters claim it was a great victory! how many do we have to lose before a loss is no longer victory?

i think well done to all concerned for Corbyn being keynote speaker at the Progress conference but it's clear that Corbyn is not up to the job and is letting the Tories off. we effectively have no opposition at the moment and despite the government tearing itself apart over the EU they are improving their position and pulling further ahead of us.

but fear not comrades, defeat is victory! weakness is strength! a scapegoat can always be found to blame for the Dear Leader's shortcomings

 

[Uncle Leo]

This from The Times' daily politics newsletter....

Corbyn is going nowhere
"If I was a betting man," said a shadow cabinet minister, "Corbyn will still be there in 2020. And we'll be absolutely annihilated."

There was a time when Labour MPs used to while away their afternoons speculating about when a coup could be mounted: the new year, after the May elections, after the EU referendum, the autumn party conference.

But in recent weeks there has been a shift in mood, and acceptance that like him or not - and most don't - Jeremy Corbyn is going nowhere. Worse than that, if a leadership contest was triggered, he would win again. Handsomely.

Today The Times has an exclusive YouGov poll of Labour members. It shows just how strong Corbyn's position is among the people who would decide whether he stays or goes.

In a new contest, 64 per cent would vote for Corbyn - up from the 59.5 per cent who backed him last September.

Now, 72 per cent think he is doing a good job, up from 66 per cent in November. The proportion who think he is "competent" has risen from 41 per cent to 45 per cent.

The poll also carries some bad news for potential rivals. When presented with a list of alternatives, 19 per cent back Dan Jarvis, 17 per cent Andy Burnham, 13 per cent Yvette Cooper and 5 per cent Chuka Umunna. Overall some 47 per cent of paid-up Labour members say Corbyn is likely to enter Downing Street after the next election.

In a cracking column on Saturday, Matthew Parris set out a path for moderates to challenge Corbyn, and if they fail resign their seat, trigger a by-election and stand again for Labour Reborn. "I'd most probably go down in flames — but what a way to go," he said.

In truth, most of the frontrunners lack the courage - if they had it, they could have mounted a proper challenge to Corbyn last summer.

In an interview with the New Yorker, the Labour leader insisted that any administration formed after a successful election would not be "under Jeremy Corbyn".

"I am hoping there will be a Labour government, of which I will be obviously a big part," he said.

He also admitted that "everyone" in his team says he should spend more time preparing for PMQs, adding: "I am not particularly good at or interested in this theatrical-riposte stuff."

He's not wrong. It is one of the things that leaves Labour MPs despairing every week.

"Cameron doesn't just kick him in the arse," one senior Labour MP told me after last week's pointless exchanges. "He kicks him repeatedly in the face."

And so Labour limps on. Caught in what many in the party now recognise as the Miliband trap: doing too well to get rid of, doing too badly to ever win an election.

One footnote: Plymouth city council, which won awards when run by Labour, has just been taken over by a Conservative-Ukip coalition.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Meanwhile,here's some more positive EU related news about the new, great leader:-

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36282480

 

[superblue24]

Meanwhile,here's some more positive EU related news about the new, great leader:-

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36282480

Like I said elsewhere, Corbyn rallying for the "Remain" campaign is all the more reason for me to vote "Out".

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Like I said elsewhere, Corbyn rallying for the "Remain" campaign is all the more reason for me to vote "Out".

Then I imagine you would feel the same way about John McDonnell's remarks:-

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36310486

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

Overall some 47 per cent of paid-up Labour members say Corbyn is likely to enter Downing Street after the next election.

that implies to me that 47% of paid-up Labour members have never met an actual voter, outside of maybe Islington. As a Labour member and activist, for Corbyn-istas that means someone who knocks doors rather than just signs petitions, i am dreading the general election. i don't honestly know how i'll be able to ask people to make that man Prime Minister with a straight face.

if I as a Labour member for a decade dread that prospect how will actual normal people feel? judging by the polls they share my concern

 

[londonblue]

that implies to me that 47% of paid-up Labour members have never met an actual voter, outside of maybe Islington. As a Labour member and activist, for Corbyn-istas that means someone who knocks doors rather than just signs petitions, i am dreading the general election. i don't honestly know how i'll be able to ask people to make that man Prime Minister with a straight face.

if I as a Labour member for a decade dread that prospect how will actual normal people feel? judging by the polls they share my concern

Corduroy will not be PM, and Labour will have their worst showing in a general election since the 1980s. I would say you heard it here first, but I suspect you didn't, and have been hearing it for months.

My dad quit his membership recently and didn't vote at all in the recent elections because he couldn't bring himself to vote for anyone else. He'd been a lifelong member. I suspect he's not the only one in that boat.

 

[Another Surrey Shrimper]

that implies to me that 47% of paid-up Labour members have never met an actual voter, outside of maybe Islington. As a Labour member and activist, for Corbyn-istas that means someone who knocks doors rather than just signs petitions, i am dreading the general election. i don't honestly know how i'll be able to ask people to make that man Prime Minister with a straight face.

if I as a Labour member for a decade dread that prospect how will actual normal people feel? judging by the polls they share my concern

Plenty of Corbyn-istas knock on doors. Maybe not in your area but that is not necessarily representative.

This government have performed spectacularly badly so you would hope for a surge in the Labour vote but it was only a year ago the Tories were voted in to power so maybe too soon to expect so many people to change their minds. Big wins for Labour in London, Bristol, Sheffield - there are signs that some parts of the country are happy to vote for this Labour Party - too soon to say if that is where it stops or if we can build on that.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

that implies to me that 47% of paid-up Labour members have never met an actual voter, outside of maybe Islington. As a Labour member and activist, for Corbyn-istas that means someone who knocks doors rather than just signs petitions, i am dreading the general election. i don't honestly know how i'll be able to ask people to make that man Prime Minister with a straight face.

if I as a Labour member for a decade dread that prospect how will actual normal people feel? judging by the polls they share my concern

I suspect you don't know Islington.I do, as one of my brothers lives there.There are still plenty of traditional Labour voters living there.

 

[londonblue]

I suspect you don't know Islington.I do, as one of my brothers lives there.There are still plenty of traditional Labour voters living there.

And I'm sure you and your brother spend all your time discussing the demographics and voting habits of Islington residents. Let's not pretend we know more about an area than we actually do. I know plenty of people that live in Islington as well. None of them will be voting Labour anymore.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

And I'm sure you and your brother spend all your time discussing the demographics and voting habits of Islington residents. Let's not pretend we know more about an area than we actually do. I know plenty of people that live in Islington as well. None of them will be voting Labour anymore.

What I can tell you about my Islington brother is that he's never voted Tory.

 

[londonblue]

What I can tell you about my Islington brother is that he's never voted Tory.

So what? That still doesn't mean you spend time discussing the demographics and voting habits of Islington residents. You have no more inside information than anyone else. (It's also not the first time you've tried to prove you have some kind of superior knowledge is it?) However, given that Corduroy's constituency is Islington North, and he has been there since the 1980s, and Islington North has been Labour pretty much since the 1930s it would surprise me enormously if he were to lose his own election, so saying that there are still "plenty of traditional Labour voters living there" doesn't really prove any kind of inside information at all. It's just stating the bleeding obvious. It also says nothing about the rest of the country

 

[MK Shrimper]

I'm bemused by Labour supporters who won't vote for JC - to me he's what the party should be about, not a slightly weaker carbon copy of the Tories. I wonder if they'll being kidded by the press who will always paint a bad picture of him?

A Labour PM at any price? No thanks, that's what brought up Blair, illegal wars and a shift to the right.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

So what? That still doesn't mean you spend time discussing the demographics and voting habits of Islington residents. You have no more inside information than anyone else. (It's also not the first time you've tried to prove you have some kind of superior knowledge is it?) However, given that Corduroy's constituency is Islington North, and he has been there since the 1980s, and Islington North has been Labour pretty much since the 1930s it would surprise me enormously if he were to lose his own election, so saying that there are still "plenty of traditional Labour voters living there" doesn't really prove any kind of inside information at all. It's just stating the bleeding obvious. It also says nothing about the rest of the country

FYI,JC actually increased his majority in Islington North at the last election-and thank you I'm fully aware that Islington is split into two Parliamentary constituencies.He has in fact substantially increased his majority in I.N. ever since he was first elected in '83.

The idea that he might "lose his own election," as you put it,is frankly preposterous.It's one of the safest Labour seats in the country.

 

[londonblue]

I'm bemused by Labour supporters who won't vote for JC - to me he's what the party should be about, not a slightly weaker carbon copy of the Tories. I wonder if they'll being kidded by the press who will always paint a bad picture of him?

A Labour PM at any price? No thanks, that's what brought up Blair, illegal wars and a shift to the right.

I'm not. I won't vote for someone that is taking the party back to the dark ages because they simply won't win a general election under him. I would rather have a left of centre left party that has chance of success and will be less bad than the tories than one that is true to its core, but only appeals to its core, and will therefore give the tories free reign.

If it takes people to stop voting for the labour party to make the wake up and smell the coffee then so bit it.

 

[londonblue]

FYI,JC actually increased his majority in Islington North at the last election-and thank you I'm fully aware that Islington is split into two Parliamentary constituencies.He has in fact substantially increased his majority in I.N. ever since he was first elected in '83.

The idea that he might "lose his own election," as you put it,is frankly preposterous.It's one of the safest Labour seats in the country.

He did, and he did that with Ed Millibland as leader, not himself. I think you've just proved my point further. To paraphrase you from yesterday, I don't think you should post quite so early in the morning it seems to mess with your head.

 

[Uncle Leo]

The idea that he might "lose his own election," as you put it,is frankly preposterous.It's one of the safest Labour seats in the country.

In 1997, Labour's safest seat in the whole country was Blaenau Gwent, won with 79% of the vote. They lost it in 2005 to an independent.

Of course, Islington North is highly unlikely to change hands and is basically's Corbyn's until he wants to retire, but politics can always throw up the odd surprise.