Newly-elected Labour head Jeremy Corbyn
On September 12, what had been expected since late July was officially confirmed: Jeremy Corbyn won a dominant victory to become the new leader of the Labour Party, the United Kingdom's opposition party. Corbyn won nearly 60 percent of the vote on the
first ballot, with Andy Burnham coming in a distant second with 19 percent. Corbyn, who, as we
previously covered, has long been one of the most left-wing members of Parliament (MP) in the party, won with the backing of a large grassroots movement which was sick and tired of leaders who did not represent their beliefs.
Corbyn only barely scraped onto the ballot because of many MPs initially supporting other candidates. But once he made it on, he skyrocketed to the front of the pack. Corbyn campaigned on an uncompromising defense of socialism, left-wing economics, and anti-austerity. Corbyn also made his candidacy an attack on the entire concept of New Labour originally implemented by former Prime Minister Tony Blair, which left wing critics see as too centrist or right-wing.
But many prominent figures both inside and outside the Labour Party worried that Corbyn's foreign policy positions could do the party long-term damage. Corbyn notoriously called Hamas and Hezbollah "friends" and defended a 9/11 conspiracy theorist who blames Israel for the attacks. Corbyn has also called for the U.K. to withdraw from NATO, and blamed the west for the crisis in Ukraine (unsurprisingly, Russia is now defending Corbyn on Twitter). But despite heavy criticism in the media and from senior Labour leaders both past and present, nothing was able to overcome Corbyn’s genuine connection with the Labour Party’s rank-and-file, who remain furious with the Blairite wing of the party, especially over its support for the Iraq War.
Keep reading below to find how Corbyn’s win will shake up British politics for the foreseeable future.
As unlikely as this victory was, most would agree that the hardest part is still to come for Corbyn and his allies. Owen Jones, a left-wing columnist for The Guardian and the New Statesman, wrote a great piece about the obstacles for Labour moving forward and how to tackle them. In particular, Corbyn will have to form an uneasy peace with a significant number of Labour MPs who disagree with him ideologically, see him as an electoral anchor, or both. As their party's leader, most would agree that they owe Corbyn a degree of loyalty, but Corbyn must also bring them in and lead the entire party, not just those that agree with him.
Guardian editor Tom Clark summed up the fears of many Labour MPs:
Even harder for the Corbynistas is to understand why it is so many MPs are so terrified. Maybe some of them are, as the far left always says, self-serving careerists without a principled bone in their body. Most of them, however, are not.
They are simply people who were tasked with knocking on doors in May. In doing that, they found that too many voters were not prepared to trust Labour with their taxes. They see no reason to believe that Corbyn’s oppositionist brand of politics is going to win the missing trust back.
While some issues would have challenged any Labour leader (like the refugee crisis and Scottish Labour troubles), Corbyn and his team will also face the aforementioned distrustful Labour MPs, a
hostile media, and confusion over where he will lead the party on the European Union referendum and the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons program.
Furthermore, power is much more centralized in British political parties compared to American ones. Corbyn will have to be Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz all rolled into one. Not only will he lead the party ideologically, but Corbyn’s leadership team will have to decide how to respond to bills and other issues in Parliament, as well as develop and implement a campaign strategy for elections in May.
On Sunday, Corbyn announced the team that will help him tackle these challenges, reshuffling the party’s shadow cabinet which acts as the leadership of the Labour Party in Parliament. A number of prominent Labour MPs either resigned from the shadow cabinet or were not asked back, including third and fourth place finishers Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall, possible future leaders Chuka Umunna, Dan Jarvis, and Rachel Reeves, and other moderates. Andy Burnham, the second-place finisher, has remained in the shadow cabinet and will become shadow home secretary (sort of like secretary of Homeland Security in America, but broader). Other moderates, such as Hilary Benn and John Healey, have also chosen to remain in the shadow cabinet where they will have a greater voice in the party, but will also need to toe the party line to a much greater degree.
Given his clear victory, Corbyn will likely be granted plenty of space to implement his strategies and ideas on all but the biggest issues (particularly Trident, EU, and NATO). As some Labour MPs found during previous leader Ed Miliband’s less-than-stable term, taking down a leader is easier said than done. Corbyn's first major test as leader will come next May, as Scotland, Wales, and London all hold elections, along with numerous local elections across England. A bad night for Labour could put Corbyn at risk for a rebellion, while a successful night may ensure that he remains as leader through the next general election in 2020.
George Eaton, the political editor of the New Statesman, sums up Corbyn’s challenge nicely:
Labour's left has won its greatest-ever victory but it is one that many believe it will never recover from. Corbyn's mission is to prove that they are as wrong about that as they were about his initial chances.
Next May's elections give Corbyn his first chance to prove his naysayers wrong.