Is Jeremy Corbyn electable?
In the wake of his landslide victory, many people on both wings of British politics have called into question Jeremy Corbyn's electability. Despite more people joining Labour since the election than the Conservatives have members, long-term Labour figureheads such as Lord Warner have abandoned ship for fear of an even more humiliating defeat in 2020 with Corbyn at the helm.
Hannah Dixon:
Yes, Jeremy Corbyn is electable. Many people, in the Labour party and elsewhere, didn’t think he would get enough votes from Labour MPs to be able to stand as a Labour leadership candidate. Even people on the left of the party, such as myself, were unsure whether he would get the 35 nominations required, but he did it. When it came to the members voting in the leadership election, Corbyn achieved a landslide victory of 59% of the total votes, a bigger win than the 57% that Blair got in 1994. Jeremy has been chosen for the people, by the people, because he is an honest, trustworthy and courageous man who stands up for his principles.
The new approach to Prime Ministers Question Time has been a success; he asks questions proposed by the public. Usually, PMQs are taken up by the Tories' unprofessional jeering and a disregard for anyone who isn’t born into privilege. However, Corbyn brings the voice of people into the limelight. He has shown that he cares about the people’s concerns, especially over the damaging tax credits cuts and the disgraceful Trade Union Bill.
The Tories are cutting tax credits for working families, but have cut corporation tax – prioritising big businesses over the wellbeing of working families. Corbyn believes that there is an alternative to austerity: his anti-austerity policies are backed by over 40 leading economists. His idea about a ‘People’s Quantitative Easing’ would take the power from the big banks, and subsequently be invested towards an updated rail, technical and housing infrastructure. In turn, it will create real jobs, nationalised railways and houses and therefore, economic growth. Austerity, on the other hand, hits the poorest in our society; it cuts jobs, hope, and is not the answer. In Canada, the Liberals have just won on an anti-austerity platform – proof that views are changing worldwide.
Jeremy Corbyn is a breath of fresh air in a stale political climate. The ‘Corbyn effect’ has already caused my local CLP to double in members since the general election. People are tired of unreachable, untrustworthy politicians. It is time for straight-talking honest politics.
Harrison Goldman:
To be honest, it was the one bet I would have been sorry to win. When Jeremy Corbyn was announced leader of the Labour Party, I was angry but not surprised. Corbyn is a danger to the Britain we know it. Yes, a danger.
Like many politicians (left and dare I say, right), he has not stuck to his principles. He swore not to join the prestigious Privy Council, but eventually did after the press got on his back. The same goes with the national anthem and that ridiculously improvised excuse of thinking of his parents! Anyone else would have sung his or her heart out. Of course I’m against his stance on boycotting Israel, I mean, he won't be throwing away his computer with its processor engineered in Tel-Aviv, will he?
In some ways Labour should be congratulated for electing someone - if it was actually real Labour members that did - who is of the hard-core left. Naturally, I only wish the Tories could counter that. As the leader of the opposition, and a potential ‘cough’ PM, he should respect our traditions even if he is against them.
The problem is that Corbyn is appealing to a ‘primarily’ uneducated electorate, he promises more for the lazy and less for the hard working. We forget how most of the electorate have no clue about the economy and are only attracted to "that bearded, sandal wearing, tee-total, non-smoking, humus loving, anthem dodging, pinko lefty” [J. Clarkson], because he doesn't wear a tie. Remember he was not the ideal candidate from the start. Like Miliband, his election was a result of the inefficiencies of his competitors, rather than his own merits.
A vote for Corbyn means more borrowing, higher taxes, mass immigration and overall anarchy. Corbin is electable, but so too was Blair, Brown & Miliband, it just depends who is daft enough to vote for him.
Jordan Butt:
I feel like Corbyn is far more electable now that Labour is fully post-Blairite. Labour's masquerading as red Tories alienated many voters who just turned to the SNP, Greens or UKIP, since those other parties either offered a better, truly left wing alternative, or offered a leader with a difference, one that large groups of people felt they could agree with.
In terms of leadership skill, Corbyn is an incredibly strong opponent to both Cameron and the Conservatives as a whole - his new style of PMQs has served only to embarrass the Conservatives, who decided to laugh on hearing the plight of minimum wage earning mother to a disabled child Kelly.
As far as 2020 goes, even if David Cameron decides that he wants to run for a third time, I'm not sure it would work out very well for the Conservatives. The recent tax credit cut scandal has exposed Cameron's and Osbourne's method of lying in order to gain votes, showing the Conservative party to be resuming its traditional role as out of touch establishment; voting to keep the tampon tax, dramatically reducing trade union powers, the attempted return of Fox Hunting and the reduction in pay with increase in hours for the already over worked Junior Doctors in the NHS.
If this handful of wrongs isn't enough reason, the fact that George Osborne was booed during his appearance at the Paralympics in 2012 and Cameron molested a pig doesn't exactly indicate a successful bid for PM for either.
