With Jeremy Corbyn departing as leader, it would be foolish to forget his influence
On the 4th April, the Labour party will announce its new leader after what is set to be a three month-long contest. After five years under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn and a huge transformation of the party’s executive from centrist liberalism to a radical socialist stance, candidates vie for the backing of his base.
With Labour’s worst defeat since 1935 after the recent general election, the already hostile media are quick to point fingers at Corbyn and his inability to lead a party that’s been in opposition for ten years. Others blame the pertinence of Brexit and the exasperations of those felt ignored after three years of wrangling since the referendum result came in. Although Corbyn may have been at the helm of a crushing blow for his party, his successor would make a grave mistake not listening to the swathes of Corbynistas that form the majority of the party’s radical left membership. In a recent YouGov poll it revealed that 71% of party members had a favourable view of Corbyn, with his approvability ranking exceeding the ones of Labour icons Clement Attlee and Harold Wilson.
Corbyn, whatever the view of the national electorate, has revolutionised the Labour party and energised a fervent base that was sullied under the New Labour years of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. His isolationist, anti-austerity and emancipatory rhetoric galvanised the youth vote and enlightened lifelong socialists disillusioned with the neoliberal status quo. His messaging, which never faltered in his almost forty-year parliamentary career, allowed Labour-leaning voters to admire his consistent and resolute positions. The Labour membership under Corbyn peaked to over 500,000 members, making it the largest political movement across the European continent. The membership under Blair, who shifted the party to a centrist free-market platform, slumped drastically to a mere 190,000 in 2004.
Under the current leadership race to succeed Corbyn, all four remaining contenders have avoided any opportunity to criticise Corbynism and have instead pledged to avoid a return to Blairite politics. The current favourite according to surveys, Keir Starmer, has acknowledged the detriments of the liberal era and maintains a socialist platform under his campaign. Meanwhile, his rival and closest Corbyn ally, Rebecca Long Bailey, has received the backing of the staunch Corbynite wing of the party, as well as approval from Momentum and Unite the union. Even Lisa Nandy, who twice voted against Corbyn in his two leadership elections, has refused to speak ill of her leader on the campaign trail to replace him.
In essence, the Labour party under Corbyn has seen widespread prominence on Britain’s political stage. A new trend of socialism has developed in the UK, US and across Europe. After previous consecutive governments, from Thatcher to Blair, have strived to protect and endorse a neoliberal consensus, it has ostracised many of Britain’s deindustrialised communities. A huge expansion in public services and local government, a prolific funding boost for the NHS and the renationalisation of rail and the country’s main utilities have received universal support. A thriving sense of populism, albeit from the left or right, has availed Brexit and other domestic issues that were always simmering.
The media’s continuous excoriation of Corbynism has led to an electorate feeling he was insufficient to ever be prime minister. Furthermore, the overshadowing of Brexit crippled Corbyn’s vision of a socialist Britain because, to achieve this, the debate surrounding EU membership would have had to conclude first. The Labour party’s dithering on Brexit meant it usurped over their domestic proposals for a brighter future. Corbyn had the tenacity, candour and experience to rid the country from the effects of decades-long inequality. To achieve his ambitions, a new leader must continue his influence and maintain a progressive prospect for Britain’s future.
