Jeremy Corbyn.

[Billy the Fish]

His victory was organised by his supporters.....as all leadership campaigns are. And out of interest how do you explain the tens of thousands that have been joining or rejoining the Labour since his victory? He is where he is due to popular demand. To say anything else is absurd.

How much of that support is down to trade unions? Their previous appointment didn't fare too well in the end either.

The silly thing is that if the unions had backed the right brother Labour might well be in power at the moment. Labour supporters should really be questioning the role of unions in their party and how much power they hold. In the last two leadership elections it seems that the winner has been put there by far left extremists, I don't see how that is possibly a good thing for them.

 

[FREDBINNEY]

How much of that support is down to trade unions? Their previous appointment didn't fare too well in the end either.

The silly thing is that if the unions had backed the right brother Labour might well be in power at the moment. Labour supporters should really be questioning the role of unions in their party and how much power they hold. In the last two leadership elections it seems that the winner has been put there by far left extremists, I don't see how that is possibly a good thing for them.

The only slightly less weird one ?

 

[FREDBINNEY]

Taken at face value, what McDonnell said seemed reasonable to me. As did a number of other items in that particular interview.

What he said about honouring the IRA is reasonable ??

 

[Hotchilidog]

How much of that support is down to trade unions? Their previous appointment didn't fare too well in the end either.

The silly thing is that if the unions had backed the right brother Labour might well be in power at the moment. Labour supporters should really be questioning the role of unions in their party and how much power they hold. In the last two leadership elections it seems that the winner has been put there by far left extremists, I don't see how that is possibly a good thing for them.

Corbyn won 49% of the full labour party members that voted. Corbyn's support came from existing members, union affiliates and newly registered supporters and 30,000 of those chose to become full members following JC's victory. Corbyn's support from within the rank and file is strong. The only people that don't seem to like him are the other MP's many of whom are New-Labour acolytes.

I believe he won 250,000 votes out of 422,000 cast on a turnout of 76%, I really struggle to believe that the SWP and Militant are popular enough to have warped this election so convincingly. Corbyn is about the most democratically legitimate of the all the party leaders. The victory was secured despite there being hardly a positive word being said about him in any mainstream media outlet and the other three candidates securing far more funding for their campaigns.

I'm not saying you have to like Corbyn, but his victory was a solid one, based on the values he represents and how they struck a chord with the labour electorate. It is now up to him to build on that and make his case to the wider electorate.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Very good point. Trust you enjoyed a pint with [MENTION=19321]Pogue Mahone[/MENTION] the other night, I was tempted myself bumping into Pogue on our bikes on the way out, but all the excitement was too much for me...

It's always a pleasure to have a beer with Mr Mahone especially after an Albion victory. Come join next time.

 

[heathgate]

My view: I am certain that the Labour establishment will oust him before the next election. He has the presence of a 'dusty' old chemistry teacher, PMQ'S yesterday was like a school prize giving assembly.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

What he said about honouring the IRA is reasonable ??

To me, in the context he provided it seems reasonable. He also mentioned his words at the time were clumsy.

 

[glasfryn]

My view: I am certain that the Labour establishment will oust him before the next election. He has the presence of a 'dusty' old chemistry teacher, PMQ'S yesterday was like a school prize giving assembly.

dave will be gone long before he is ...................................hark you can hear the anti-europeans sharpening their knives already

 

[FREDBINNEY]

To me, in the context he provided it seems reasonable. He also mentioned his words at the time were clumsy.

I was beginning to thaw to you , we're now back to how we were , I have nothing but contempt for you and those like you , you treacherous b*stards.

 

[Castello]

The silly thing is that if the unions had backed the right brother Labour might well be in power at the moment. Labour supporters should really be questioning the role of unions in their party and how much power they hold. In the last two leadership elections it seems that the winner has been put there by far left extremists, I don't see how that is possibly a good thing for them.

You really show how little you know of the history of the Labour party and its funding when you make this comment. The Labour party was founded by Trade unions in 1900 to be the political voice of the trade union movement. As a result of this its initial funding and even now more than 50% of its funding comes from trade unions. Unite alone contributes £3.5 million to the labour party. Without trade union funds the labour party would be bankrupt. It would be unable to anywhere near match the tories in donations from business and membership even now after the recent increase wouldnt pay for the running costs of the party, never mind election campaigns.

In return for the donations Trade union members get very little we get a right to vote in elections. The last Labour Government did very little to help trade unions. Certainly our donations dont buy as much influence as donations from big business buys in the tory party. The Labour party and Trade Unions are intrinsically bound together by history and finance.

 

[Castello]

Corbyn won 49% of the full labour party members that voted. Corbyn's support came from existing members, union affiliates and newly registered supporters and 30,000 of those chose to become full members following JC's victory. Corbyn's support from within the rank and file is strong. The only people that don't seem to like him are the other MP's many of whom are New-Labour acolytes.

I believe he won 250,000 votes out of 422,000 cast on a turnout of 76%, I really struggle to believe that the SWP and Militant are popular enough to have warped this election so convincingly. Corbyn is about the most democratically legitimate of the all the party leaders. The victory was secured despite there being hardly a positive word being said about him in any mainstream media outlet and the other three candidates securing far more funding for their campaigns.

I'm not saying you have to like Corbyn, but his victory was a solid one, based on the values he represents and how they struck a chord with the labour electorate. It is now up to him to build on that and make his case to the wider electorate.

The SWP had 5,000 members before they split last year. the Socialist Party (which is what Militant became) has 4000 members, even saying the remaining trotskyist parties have 3,500 between them that is 12.500. the labour party put on 200,000 members and suppoorters. Even assuming everyone of those 12,500 gave up their membership of their party and joined the labour party, which i can assure you hasnt happened, that makes 8% of the increase. Your struggle to believe they could warp the election, is well founded.

 

[Albion Dan]

How much of that support is down to trade unions? Their previous appointment didn't fare too well in the end either.

The silly thing is that if the unions had backed the right brother Labour might well be in power at the moment. Labour supporters should really be questioning the role of unions in their party and how much power they hold. In the last two leadership elections it seems that the winner has been put there by far left extremists, I don't see how that is possibly a good thing for them.

If the party only exists to get into power as a pale imitation of the Tories then I think a mistake has been made.

If people want a party that represents something people can be live in and an opportunity for real choice then good progress has been made.

Corbyn will do far better than many expect and the fact the media are so viciously against him shows they are worried too. Strange how the right wing media flipped from hoping he'd get elected to destroy labour to desperately scare mongering to keep him out

 

[W.C.]

That may be true for you, and you will not be the first on here who has then gone on to say that "huge swathes" and "hundreds of thousands" agree in an attempt to lend a bit of credence. He has been in the political wilderness for decades and there is surely a reason for this. Yes, he did win the contest easily, but then perhaps that says something about the contest, when all of a sudden those eligible to vote seemed to multiply in the previous few weeks .It is hard to avoid the suspicion that it was orchestrated by his supporters. He may go on to win hearts and minds - who knows - but please don't try and give the impression that his elevation is due to popular demand.

I'm sorry, I find your comment a little odd. Of course his victory was orchestrated by his supporters. Who else would do it?
His victory came out of nowhere. No one predicted it. That's interesting surely?

 

[Hungry Joe]

I was beginning to thaw to you , we're now back to how we were , I have nothing but contempt for you and those like you , you treacherous b*stards.

Just in case anyone lumps me in with the 'those like you', I have to take issue with HT on this point. Though it is undoubtedly true that to make progress to end violence you have to engage with some very bad people and involve them to some extent in the political process, his choice of words in this instance were unforgivable and anything less than a full and sincere apology is meaningless.

 

[Buzzer]

Corbyn will do far better than many expect

Good luck with that. YouGov have polled people on their thoughts. Proof indeed that Corbyn needs to reach out to Middle England if he wants any chance of winning the next election.

This is particularly damning:

This doesn't augur well for him either:

and to put that last one into context, here's the general public's reaction to Corbyn v Miliband leadership wins.

It's pretty difficult to see Corbyn winning people over with his prospective management of defence, the economy, world politics, terrorism et al.

 

[Buzzer]

I think Corbyn's fans on here are in danger of falling for their own hype. There are a lot of people who are politically motivated enough to join/re-join Labour but the overwhelming majority of people just aren't that political. By their very nature they're silent so the politically motivated are the ones making a lot of noise but as that YouGov poll shows, the perception of Corbyn on social media is at odds with the general public's overall opinion of the man. He's got an awful lot of work to do even to get to Miliband levels of public trust.

 

[Bold Seagull]

He's not even been in the job a full 4 working days yet. Who is even capable of forming an informed opinion of him when he's only just formed he's cabinet, and yet to agree on any concrete policy proposals. Are YouGov doing what they did before the general election and just canvassing people coming out of Tesco's!?

 

[Nibble]

I was beginning to thaw to you , we're now back to how we were , I have nothing but contempt for you and those like you , you treacherous b*stards.

You're the same no matter what name you go by.

 

[Buzzer]

He's not even been in the job a full 4 working days yet. Who is even capable of forming an informed opinion of him when he's only just formed he's cabinet, and yet to agree on any concrete policy proposals. Are YouGov doing what they did before the general election and just canvassing people coming out of Tesco's!?

Tell you what, next time have a read of what I wrote before you go into automatic Corbyn defence mode. This IS people's perception of him right now and with a comparison of how people felt about Miliband when he took over, it's not asking people for an informed opinion of how they will feel in 6 months or a year's time! Hence my comments about Corbyn having a lot of work to do to win the general public over. Of course he's only just started in his job - and this is how people feel about him right now.

Jesus wept, the knee-jerk reaction on here to anything that looks remotely hostile to Corbyn is laughable.

 

[Normal Rob]

Being marginally left of centre, i have voted labour at one of the last 2 elections (in the other i voted tactically to try and keep the conservatives out)

Under Corbyn i will not vote labour under any circumstances. Pretty much a reflection of the polls above this post. He may well appeal to the dyed in the wool labour heartland, but that is no way near enough to win an election. Labour's vote will be reduced to it's skeletal status, and possibly pave the way for a Lib-Dem resurgence.