With a British political climate that seems to have become progressively bleak for what remains of the left-wing forces in the UK, the time for renewal and resurgence of Her Majesty’s Opposition could not be more imperative in the current calamitous constitutional context (that was a mouthful). The Labour party in Britain has been battered and bruised by an amalgamation of internal divisions and external weaknesses; the shining red beacon of hope that the Labour party once proudly represented has gradually deteriorated into a dim flickering bulb in need of serious repair. Lightbulb analogies aside, Britain’s opposition party is urgently crying out for a refurbishment that will pull them out of murky political waters and back onto stable ground. With a snap general election around the corner that will define the Brexit mandate and its journey through the House of Commons, what better time to call upon the Labour party and its politically ailing leader - Jeremy Corbyn - to seriously consider the future of Britain’s Left and its force as a realistically tenable party for the UK?
The attack of the so-called ‘intellectual elite’ and ‘liberal London’ has been a concomitant effect of a disenchanted attitude that has been bubbling towards the surface of politics for some time now; the left-right political cleavages in Britain have been deepened and exacerbated by a growing mistrust of ‘the Establishment’.We have even seen individuals and groups calling for an overthrow of this Establishment. It is perhaps too easy or even lacklustre to pull Brexit out of the ammunition box here to explain the deepening chasm separating Britain’s Left from its Right, however, the defining moment that was a vote to leave the European Union has certainly become the prism through which – as Nick Clegg rather scientifically put it – all other political issues are being refracted. For a man who has perhaps seen some of the harshest political criticism over ‘getting things wrong’ during his tenure as Deputy Prime Minister in the coalition, I think it’s safe to say he is correct on this matter. Brexit has indeed become the political Viagra propping all other debates up.
We would be hard pushed to go a day without hearing a mention of the B-word; it seems it is the vital oxygen that the Cabinet requires to be able to function properly and make sense of the world around them. What has resulted from this combination of Brexit, disenchantment with the so-called Establishment and the general distrust towards modern academics espousing leftist view? The consequence has been a further withering of the government’s opposition and a stirring undercurrent of resentment towards what some may refer to as Britain’s ‘liberal elite’.
The deleterious issue that Labour – or indeed the Liberal Democrats – face is the absence of a credible and powerful leading figure to save the Left from complete disrepute; this has had disastrous effects for both these parties. What becomes clear is the sheer importance of the type of politician that is leading; character and leadership traits are the fundamental measures of success for our modern-day politicians proposing to assume office. Some might argue that Theresa May has more testosterone in her than Corbyn’s entire front bench; as crass an assertion as this may seem, it is true that May’s unrelenting and indomitable political will has gained her much support from an electorate searching for strength, resilience and pragmatism in a time of social and economic uncertainty. Indeed, many regard Blair’s New Labour success as stemming from his sheer ability at communicating clearly with the people whom he would be calling upon to vote for him; this highly effective trait in Tony Blair - which evoked widespread support for his clear and thorough line on policy and pragmatism - is sadly lacking in the rhetoric of Jeremy Corbyn.
Of course, this is not to say that Corbyn should simply pick up Blairite PR techniques and attempt to 'steal the show', rather that he should carefully consider the picture he is creating of Britain’s Labour Party, and the undeniably insidious consequences it is having for the strength of the UK’s political opposition. If the Left don’t take steps to strengthen their political scaffolding soon, it could mean a complete dissipation of hope with regards to the prospect of a left-wing leadership; in the absence of political rejuvenation, we may see future headlines reading ‘Why the Right Were Right and the Left Got Left…’