Rebecca Long-Bailey, Lisa Nandy and Sir Keir Starmer at the leadership hustings in Glasgow on 15 February (Photo by Robert Perry/Getty Images)
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As Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings extend their iron grip on the government, brooking no pockets of disagreement and appointing a cabinet of almost no obvious talent but much devotion, the need for a decent opposition in Parliament has become obvious again. Almost without anyone noticing the Labour party is holding a leadership election that may in the near future provide it with some punch. Now the contest has a point.
Labour leadership contests have always had an impetus all of their own. They are always long, with tortuous rules that make them subject to surprise. Just ask David Miliband in 2010 or Andy Burnham in 2015. Under two different electoral systems the early favourites lost in elongated campaigns that threw up Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn. We all know how well they turned out.
Labour’s reaction to the 2019 general election has been analysed by Lord Ashcroft in his “Diagnosis of Defeat”. Brexit and Jeremy Corbyn were the two principal causes for members deserting the party, contrary to the findings of the National Executive Committee’s report last month that exonerated the Labour leader. Among those who stayed loyal most of those polled by Ashcroft said Labour did not deserve to lose. Asked whether Labour had been an adequate opposition since 2015, Corbyn supporters gave it 6.8 out of 10. The public in general gave it only 2.9.
This disparity has also been shown in other ways: 73% of party members in the poll said anti-Semitism was exaggerated or invented, although the leadership should have done a better job in dealing with it. Amazingly, when asked who was the best Labour leader of modern times the largest vote, at 35%, was for Corbyn; over Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and John Smith. Essentially these party members seem to think that 2019 was an aberration based on Brexit.
However, they did accept that the highest priority now is to win lost voters back and win an election, and this may be the start of reality dawning. The choice between the policies and tactics of the past four years and a desire to win is now firmly on the agenda.
The 2020 leadership campaign has now reached its critical point.
The various constituencies of the party have, after different nominating phases, voted to select leadership and deputy leadership candidates for the final ballot of members. On Saturday the candidates were granted access to data on individual members and registered supporters of the party — now remarkably up to as many as 650,000 — and the battle for votes begins. That night the campaigns were already texting and calling supporters; and there are another nine weeks for official campaigning to take place.
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