A recent poll conducted by YouGov shows that Jeremy Corbyn is on course for a landslide victory.
I don’t believe in the vast majority of what Jeremy Corbyn says, but I’ve been impressed by his campaign.
I suspect that the reason why Jeremy Corbyn is resonating so well with Labour’s membership is because he seems actually to stand for something, and he’s able to articulate his vision in a clear manner. Again I don’t agree with Corbyn’s radical leftist vision, but I quite admire the sincerity of his beliefs. I also like the fact that he doesn’t come across as a career politician.
There’s a simplicity and straightforwardness in his rhetoric which is quite refreshing; Corbyn seems to come across as principled and more than just winning at any cost.
The Blairites, however, seem to be struggling and perhaps the groupthink and rigid conformity which seemed to be a prominent feature of Blairism has made them incapable of thinking outside-the-box and of constructing a new narrative different from Blairisim, which fits the current political landscape.
The Blairites seem to forget that most people who take the time to join political parties tend to be people who are ideologically driven, and interested in principles, and ideas.
The disdain shown by the Blairites seems similar to the dismissive attitude shown by the Tories towards their membership.
Corbyn is leading because the Blairites have failed to offer a vision which is convincing, and coherent.
Liz Kendall comes across as being the candidate with the most sense, but I’ve come to realise that on the Left, the more sense you have, the more ostracised you are. Liz Kendall’s campaign has been too focused on middle England and not tailored enough to suit some of the harsh realities of leftism.
Also the laser sharp focus by Blairites on the centre-ground might be one of the reason why they are failing to appeal to Labour’s membership.
I suspect that the politics of the centre-ground create a paralysis and an over-reliance on spin, and excessive polling.
In the centre-ground, ideology is frowned upon and ideas that are deemed too difficult or complex to explain are ditched, and I think this can be demonstrated by the Tories, who have embraced the living-wage for no other reason than to appear to be in the so-called centre-ground.
In essence the so-called centre-ground may sound good but it risks resulting in politicians who become cowardly and unwilling to stand for anything. I also suspect that the EU sits in the centre-ground. Eurosceptism is difficult when you’re in the centre-ground.
Andy Burnham seems to have recognised some of the perils of the centre-ground, and appears to be slightly centre-left, but he appears low on confidence.
It’s difficult to predict what will happen to Labour in the long term, but Corbyn’s inclusion has electrified the membership, and after all it’s the members who do the canvassing and leafleting, and they do deserve to be listened do.
There is an arrogance and a lack of humility amongst the Blairites, and instead of attacking Corbyn they should be doing some soul-searching and asking why they’ve been unable to make an impact in the way that Corbyn has?
I used to think that the future of Labour lay with the Progress wing of the party, because Blue Labour could never succeed due to the feminist lobby who will scupper any attempts to turn Labour into a political party that believes in concepts like faith, flag, and family; however, now I’m starting to wonder if the Blairites are truly out of ideas.
