Jeremy Corbyn wins Labour leadership contest
Source: BBC
[div]Veteran left-wing MP Jeremy Corbyn has been elected leader of the Labour Party by a landslide.
Mr Corbyn, who began the contest as a rank outsider, saw off a challenge from frontbenchers Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall.
He gained 251,417 or 59% of first preference votes - 40% more than his nearest rival Mr Burnham, who got 19%.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,157 posts)Quite possibly, all the separate groups of members, unions members and 'supporters' also gave him a majority first round. I'll look for them.
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)but the backing of the unions and the £3 supporters made a large difference, there. Burnham made a terrible mistake by deciding he could spurn the unions...that and waffling on the welfare bill are probably what put him out of contention.
And, found a breakdown of results; Corbyn won decisively in all categories (members, registered supporters, and affiliated supporters):
The total for members wouldn't have QUITE been 50%, but he may've won on the second ballot.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,157 posts)Jamie Reed (who he? ed.) has already resigned from Labour's front bench:
https://twitter.com/jreedmp/status/642649854624309248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
T_i_B
(14,734 posts)Last edited Sat Sep 12, 2015, 08:26 AM - Edit history (1)
....of a toddler throwing his rattle out of the pram.
Mind you, the same could be said for quite a few members of the anti-Corbyn brigade like Simon Danczuk, John Mann and pretty much everyone involved with the Liz Kendall campaign. The moderate left in this country is in serious crisis and urgently needs to get its own house in order.
Also, Rachel Reeves has resigned, which pleases me as I think that she's a truly dreadful politician. A prime example of the careerist tripe that Ed Miliband mistakenly fast tracked into the shadow cabinet over more expeienced and able politicians.
https://twitter.com/RachelReevesMP/status/642665554646540289
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)I believe I've seen that as many as 12 of the current frontbench have said they won't serve under Corbyn--the message the leadership election has given about the divide between the Parliamentary party and the rank and file party members on many issues has apparently not been received.
T_i_B
(14,734 posts)Is a serious problem. The PLP is very clearly badly out of touch with the rest of the country and it's a major problem that must be resolved before Labour can even think of winning back power.
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)that Corbyn, according to polling, anyway, seems to've won back some of the disaffected Labour voters who were voting Ukip...but then the Blairite fetish for "electability" and focus-group tested policy and carefully-crafted PR-friendly soundbites has produced a Parliamentary party that consists of bland interchangeable technocrats. That people respond to authenticity (real or perceived; I suspect it's part of Boris Johnson's appeal, although in his case it's just a different kind of artifice) is no surprise. And as far as "electability": "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his soul?" (That's what came to mind when reading Blair's increasingly frantic anti-Corbyn broadsides...)
T_i_B
(14,734 posts)And Labour's many problems go far beyond left/right mass debates.
People on both left and right of the spectrum are more inclined to prefer genuine people. Politicians who speak plainly and stand for something other than just grabbing power for themselves at any cost.
Jeremy Corbyn does have clear faults, but even people who cannot abide his politics can see understand why he's doing well and why he's been preferred over the likes of Yvette Cooper.
You're quite right, the breadth of his appeal is what's astonished me.
Polling suggests he's appealing across parties - as you say, just because people see he's the real deal and not just the usual BS.
So take heart, there's still a space in the political process for people who actually believe in something.
Response to dave_p (Reply #21)
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LeftishBrit
(41,192 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,157 posts)Asked live on BBC news to respond to the resignation, the former Deputy Prime Minister told interviewer Jane Hill "who is Jamie Reed? Is he in our party?"
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/john-prescott-responds-to-jamie-reeds-resignation-after-jeremy-corbyn-victory-whos-he-10498022.html
https://twitter.com/GraemeDemianyk/status/642665452876005376/video/1
dave_p
(1,650 posts)lol, I had to google the sorry tosser. I thought for a moment. "What? Not the Anarchy in the UK designer? Labour? No!" Then I spotted the spelling. Good riddance.
enlightenment
(8,830 posts)had 51% without the £3 supporters (a comment on some of the Beeb coverage online).
Turborama
(22,109 posts)Last edited Sat Sep 12, 2015, 08:23 AM - Edit history (1)
Watch here: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/jeremy-corbyns-first-speech-labour-6429383
muriel_volestrangler
(101,157 posts)Corbyn is so much better at communicating than Cameron, clear, fluent, open. This will be interesting no matter what your politics....
https://twitter.com/davidyelland/status/642652249378959360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
It was a good speech. And it's interesting to see an old editor of The Sun being objective and complimentary like that.
T_i_B
(14,734 posts)He's not a particularly stirring public speaker, but he does make clear simple arguments without any of the mealy mouthed platitudes we've become accustomed to from Labour.
He's pretty good, actually, recall he's used to a back-bencher's venues rather than the big ones of the corporate careerist. he actually needs to stick to his delivery, the efforts to sound machine career-politico in his speech didn't ring true. Because he isn't one.
T_i_B
(14,734 posts)is because I've actually seen him make speeches in Parliament Square and Hyde Park back when I was protesting against the Iraq War.
Here's another article which sums up a lot of my own thoughts on Corbyn's speaking
http://www.politics.co.uk/blogs/2015/09/11/tears-and-jeers-an-evening-with-the-corbyn-faithful
But if Jones was like an evangelical preacher, then Corbyn was much more like the local vicar. His plodding, one-pitch style was, to my ears, something of a comedown from all the previous speakers. It had nether the bombast of Jones or McCluskey, the humour of Clive Lewis MP, nor the emotional connection of some of the local activists and councillors.
Lychee2
(405 posts)That's my concern about Bernie. The red baiting hasn't started yet, but you can bet the Republicans will do it in the General, if Bernie is lucky enough to get the Democratic nomination. They will dig up every radical thing he ever said back in his Young People's Socialist League days in the Socialist Party USA.
To their credit, the Dems have not engaged in red-baiting Bernie.
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)if Sanders wins Iowa and New Hampshire I expect things may take a turn for the nasty, though.
Lychee2
(405 posts)Yes, it could happen.
dave_p
(1,650 posts)"To their credit, the Dems have not engaged in red-baiting Bernie."
You're right, it's very impressive in these fraught times. A credit to all concerned, so far. I hope they keep it up (while disagreeing on policy, as they doubtless will).
NYCButterfinger
(755 posts)He needs to prove that he is electable and can defeat Tories like David Cameron and George Osborne. If not, then another leadership contest will happen in 2020. Taxes should raised on those who seek tax havens overseas. Corbyn will hve to address that.
dave_p
(1,650 posts)He made a point of precisely that.
But it needs international action. And it can't work without the US and UK working together, they own most of them. If the UK shuts its tax havens the money will flee to US ones, and vice versa: it's costing everyone billions. Shut them all, and pay them to play ball - they'll be better off, so will honest taxpayers, and the corporations can enjoy the warm glow that comes from not being swindling crooks.
David__77
(23,220 posts)I don't know much about this race. I just looked at some videos. It seems to me that this might be a factor for the reemergence of an ideological reorientation of the Labor Party. I'll keep looking into it!
Judi Lynn
(160,219 posts)orpupilofnature57
(15,472 posts)Peace Patriot
(24,010 posts)My comment is #3 here, in another Corbyn OP:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017293104#post3
Looks to me like a socialist revolution in the English-speaking world, AT LONG LAST!
Uncle Joe
(58,112 posts)Thanks for the thread, Spider Jerusalem.