Tag: Since the Brexit

It had mistakenly put out a template. Not so long ago parties stood for electoral power: anything less was irrelevant Just over three years after Jeremy Corbyn won Labour’s leadership election, our understanding of the role a party can play in political life has been reimagined. Many new members are passive; some prioritise a left agenda within the party; others see the party as a route to social activism in their communities; some joined because they want to get rid of Corbyn. During his first election in 2015, Corbyn won 44% of people who joined the party before 2010 and 49% of those who joined when Ed Miliband was leader – significantly more than any of his challengers and a clear sign of a far broader, deeper shift in the direction of the party. In any case, if it is a cult, it’s not a very good one. At this year’s party conference there were profound disagreements among people who support Corbyn – over Brexit, a second referendum and party democracy. It has fewer members than the Scottish National party, which stands only in Scotland. It lost half its membership between 2005 and 2013. Electorally, the Tories still dominate. The point here is not that the nation would be better served by a more rightwing Tory party – it wouldn’t – but that our political culture would benefit from the Tory party engaging its base and hosting those debates, rather than suppressing them so that it can cling on to power – which at this point is its sole function.