UK Politics

Thank you very much for the early present. Thanks to the Labour Party for making this possible. The Labour Party have just imploded! Cheers, Jeremy!

........  just so Jamie

I wonder when it will dawn on them that left of left politics is as dead as a dodo in this country. It didn't work in past & it stands even less of a chance today;  this countries electorate sits across the centre of politics.   My centre left friends have been all doom & gloom for the last weeks with the prospect of Corbyn as leader.  Some were talking of Labour splitting much like the Tories & UKIP.

The labour party has just done a 

A really good day for Conservatives   

........  and I expect also a good day for Lib-Dems as a lot of those disaffected will be looking elsewhere.   

I have voted for most parties in my time.. other than extremists ones. I wish Jeremy Corbyn well, I just however think Laobour will not regain the confidence of the people to regain power with Corbyn and Watson there.. I hope I am wrong but I think they will have a wilderness period now.  I listened to new deputy Watson's winning speech, and the language was about division and antagonism with the Tories.. What a depressing speech.. he needs to appeal and invite to all people, Tories, socialist, liberals, nationalists... Yes there are many he won't reach, but there are many more who will listen.. But not if he vilifies them..

Really depressing.. It feels like labour has gone back 50 years...  I hope the lib Dems can now rally to form a credible opposition, at least they don't encourage division..

Simon

I agree with the comments about Tom Watson. I listened to his speech '...that he wrote backstage with his kids [including his 10 year old] just before he came on...' and started off by telling all in the room how unorganised he is. What a twonk.

I can kind of see the point in having a Jeremy Corbyn, in opposition at least (and lest we forget the job of the opposition is to oppose) and, who knows, he may well tap into some current and future isolationist, anti-zionist, anti-establishment core of the electorate out there... But Watson? What on earth does he bring to the party? As it were.

Simple question for you all. 

Would Burnham, Cooper or Kendall ever stand a cat in hell's chance of ever getting elected as PM?

At least we have an opposition that is now going to do its job - to oppose government policy. Which can only be a good thing. And because government in this country tends to be by cabinet, not PM, it is likely that some of Corbyn's dafter ideas, like pulling out of NATO and an open door policy on immigration, are likely to be moderated by colleagues. I suspect we may also see him choosing his company a little more carefully, if he listens to advice.

For all Tories on this forum feeling very smug right now, I would urge caution. A left Labour government led by Corbyn as PM  is unlikely, but not impossible. To win in 2020, Labour needs to win back the Scots and Labour voters who defected to the Greens and UKIP, and a left (as opposted to Blairite/Tory Lite) Labour party is more likely to do this than a Nu Liebour drone like Cooper. Also Corbyn seems to have a lot of support from the young, who are usually disengaged from the political process , so there may be votes to be picked up there.

Whatever, the next few months and years are going to be hugely entertaining.

Opposition is a good place for conviction politics and, of the four candidates, I'm pleased he has won with such a convincing %. Hopefully it will enrich the level of actual debate & make for genuinely interesting PMQ's.

G

We posted simultaneously...We agree Kevin!

G

I suspect his job will be to try and unify all the differing strands, and to stop too many Blairites flouncing off to the back benches. I think that's why people voted for him.

This is a difficult one to call. One one hand, Corbyn's left-wing stance may be seen as completely knocking the feet away from the Labour party's chances of ever being re-elected, but then Labour will now offer a genuinely different alternative to the electorate who just gave a clear message they're fed up with "New" Labour and may well succumb to Corbyn's undoubted ability to communicate with the man on the street. The other candidates seemed to be dishing out more of the same wishy-washy politics as before.

Fascinating times ahead! 

 No not at all,  labour are in the wilderness for a while & unless I'm blind to whatever, or something really left field happens,  the conservatives will win 2020.

Whilst I am not a labour supporter I do see the need for a strong challenging opposition & like it or not the tories need to be put onto the opposition benches once in a while.

And talking opposition,  sorry but I do not see Corbyn & whoever he brings into his front bench being a successful opposition - SMP will probably add more to that job than their numbers would suggest.

Final point - I can see someone like Chuka Umunna riding to the rescue after Corbyn has run his course as we get closer to 2020. 

Interesting that Tory supporters and the Right-wing press are already on the attack. Perhaps they're worried about something?

Tony, it is interesting, however in a healthy democracy one needs credible opposition, not just interesting debates, I am sure many of us remember dear Michael Foot.

If Corbyn moderates and represents and shaping all his party's views then he could indeed be truly successful in utilising his undoubted charisma, but his career to date doesn't appear to have been too inclusive..we shall see. I am sure he will not much get leadership steer from his boot camp deputy Watson .. at least he makes Corbyn look professional and distinguished by comparison.

But whatever, I do agree we have some more colour in British politics now.. Just perhaps not any convincing opposition. 

Kevin I have been a Tory supporter, as well as labour, (lib dem, green, UKIP, independent ) no attack from me.. Just mild disappointment .. I think if Corbyn was balanced with his right wingers then it might work.. I just don't feel that is Corbyn's style.. But what do I know? But I will be watching with interest the labour part leadership team and the undoubted twists and turns we shall see over the coming months

Simon

I Like Liz Kendall. I thought she was great in The Good Life.

Yeah, just four and a half bleeding years more, roll on 2020  

[Defence secretary] Michael Fallon has just been on TV spreading egregious scare stories saying that Labour would put Britain "at risk" and other such nonsense.

Do I sense a little bit of worry among the Tories?

Boom. And indeed Boom!

Now Obi Wan Kenobi has won the Labour leadership, perhaps he can defeat the "Dark Side" Neo-Cons and Nu -Lab 

No, since spreading lies and fears is the raison d'être of the Nasty Party. Make people afraid of their own shadow and you can make them do almost whatever you want them to, including voting for you.

Corbyn will make a very good opposition leader of the Labour Party, the Nasty Party will have to listen to and then rebut his views (with their rabid scaremongering) but will offer nothing as a credible leader. 

LOL, no one will listen at all to Labour anymore

LOL, no one will listen at all to Labour anymore

Wrong. We now have a real opposition to the miserable, poor-hating, elitist, public school, Bullingron posh boys that we are currently suffering under.

steve

It would be very sad for the UK, and the world if the British people decide to put him in power. He is a very good man indeed, but his political belief is far too loony.

Worth pointing out that the Blairites so contemptuously dismissed a) won 3 elections in a row, unmatched by any other Labour grouping and b) had most of their best policies accepted by the Tories. 

On the face of it I would agree with the general view that Corbyn’s election as leader of the Labour Party  has reduced rather than enhanced the chances of the party coming to power (though, like Kevin, I don’t think any of the other three candidates would have improved those chances).  But, I also think that many among the electorate are fed up with the similarity of the main characters in the main parties. Many people may feel that for them little changes whatever party is in power. Some clearly differentiated policies may bring a freshness to political debate and the public’s interest in it that we haven’t had in the UK for many years.  

Also there will be those who draw comparisons to the Labour party led by Michael Foot, as S-i-S has mentioned, and that might be a reasonable comparison……but…..there will be very many of today's electorate who were not even born when Michael Foot led the party.  In other words many young voters will look at Corbyn and listen to what he says - and he does use refreshingly plain language - and hear it for the first time.  For many they might think ‘ yes, let’s try something different!’.

For sure the Tory machine will now train its sights on Corbyn and try to destroy him, and I’m sure that machine will land many legitimate hits.  But the very fact that conventional politicians and parties attack him could actually make him more appealing to many in the electorate, particularly those who feel disenfranchised or just plain bored by ‘the current lot’.  I think the Tories might want to be a bit careful here.    

Mike