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Labour’s leadership contest has energised the public. There’s no going back Labour’s leadership contest has energised the public. There’s no going back
(35 minutes later)
Another Labour backbencher is calling for a halt to the leadership contest. Party loyalists could be forgiven for wondering at what point, exactly, the party’s opponents were passed a loaded pistol while a red rose was plastered over the concentric circles on the target? Who thought it would be a good idea, just as normal political life finally sinks into a persistent vegetative state, to subcontract the choice of Labour leader to a crowdsourcing exercise?Another Labour backbencher is calling for a halt to the leadership contest. Party loyalists could be forgiven for wondering at what point, exactly, the party’s opponents were passed a loaded pistol while a red rose was plastered over the concentric circles on the target? Who thought it would be a good idea, just as normal political life finally sinks into a persistent vegetative state, to subcontract the choice of Labour leader to a crowdsourcing exercise?
Here’s the thing. It is a good idea. It’s absolutely the right direction of travel. The problem is that it demands a different kind of politics – and the politicians haven’t yet grasped what that is.Here’s the thing. It is a good idea. It’s absolutely the right direction of travel. The problem is that it demands a different kind of politics – and the politicians haven’t yet grasped what that is.
Labour brought in this new system in the worst of circumstances. It was trying to tackle two problems. The first was that Ed Miliband never quite escaped from the sense that his election as party leader somehow lacked legitimacy. He had cheated, it was whispered, not (or not only) by cheating his brother but by relying on support from trade unions who did not all, always, treat all the candidates equally.Labour brought in this new system in the worst of circumstances. It was trying to tackle two problems. The first was that Ed Miliband never quite escaped from the sense that his election as party leader somehow lacked legitimacy. He had cheated, it was whispered, not (or not only) by cheating his brother but by relying on support from trade unions who did not all, always, treat all the candidates equally.
Related: Jeremy Corbyn profile: 'He talks like a human being, about things that are real'Related: Jeremy Corbyn profile: 'He talks like a human being, about things that are real'
The second, related, problem was the damaging row over the selection of a candidate to fight the byelection in Falkirk. That made it seem imperative that Miliband realise a long-standing commitment to refashion the contentious link between the party and the trade unions.The second, related, problem was the damaging row over the selection of a candidate to fight the byelection in Falkirk. That made it seem imperative that Miliband realise a long-standing commitment to refashion the contentious link between the party and the trade unions.
That was what Ray Collins, the party’s general secretary, was trying to do. The system of electing a future leader was only one of a series of interrelated tasks that also involved the neuralgic issue of party funding and candidate selections. The idea of some kind of primary system where anyone could vote for the payment of a small fee – partly to meet the cost of extending the franchise – was generally welcomed as a way of reconnecting Labour with its voters and providing a new foundation for a mass movement. Miliband announced that “it would let the people back into politics”. The vital safety mechanism was that MPs would hold on to the right to choose who was on the ballot paper that went out to this new selectorate. A fifth of the Labour parliamentary party would have to nominate a candidate for them to get on to the ballot paper.That was what Ray Collins, the party’s general secretary, was trying to do. The system of electing a future leader was only one of a series of interrelated tasks that also involved the neuralgic issue of party funding and candidate selections. The idea of some kind of primary system where anyone could vote for the payment of a small fee – partly to meet the cost of extending the franchise – was generally welcomed as a way of reconnecting Labour with its voters and providing a new foundation for a mass movement. Miliband announced that “it would let the people back into politics”. The vital safety mechanism was that MPs would hold on to the right to choose who was on the ballot paper that went out to this new selectorate. A fifth of the Labour parliamentary party would have to nominate a candidate for them to get on to the ballot paper.
In the eyes of the Westminster establishment at least, that meant a candidate like Jeremy Corbyn – who, whatever his strengths, will not command a majority of support in the PLP – should never make it on to the ballot paper in the first place. But in the name of a proper debate, people who would never vote for him were prepared to back him. At the very last minute, he won 36 nominations, one more than the minimum. No one wanted to be seen to close down a narrow but long, deeply held strand of Labour thinking. And few stopped to consider what this would mean in a world where “the people” had a say.In the eyes of the Westminster establishment at least, that meant a candidate like Jeremy Corbyn – who, whatever his strengths, will not command a majority of support in the PLP – should never make it on to the ballot paper in the first place. But in the name of a proper debate, people who would never vote for him were prepared to back him. At the very last minute, he won 36 nominations, one more than the minimum. No one wanted to be seen to close down a narrow but long, deeply held strand of Labour thinking. And few stopped to consider what this would mean in a world where “the people” had a say.
Corbyn has since become the vessel for the pent-up frustrations of an electorate bored to tears by a generation of calibrated political messaging. It has been a bit like tossing a rock into layers of soft snow piled on a steep slope that has triggered an avalanche. It is easy to argue that Collins’ system is flawed. But it’s a great way of energising citizens to think about politics. Corbyn has since become the vessel for the pent-up frustrations of an electorate bored to tears by a generation of calibrated political messaging. It has been a bit like tossing a rock into layers of soft snow piled on a steep slope, triggering an avalanche. It is easy to argue that Collins’s system is flawed. But it’s a great way of energising citizens to think about politics.
The most serious charge is that it is open to manipulation, although if it is manipulation that has produced such a surge of interest in Labour politics, it is on an extraordinary scale.The most serious charge is that it is open to manipulation, although if it is manipulation that has produced such a surge of interest in Labour politics, it is on an extraordinary scale.
Yet it probably would have been better, and felt more like a genuine open primary, to break out of tradition altogether and adopt more aspects of the system by which Francois Hollande was selected to be the socialist presidential candidate.Yet it probably would have been better, and felt more like a genuine open primary, to break out of tradition altogether and adopt more aspects of the system by which Francois Hollande was selected to be the socialist presidential candidate.
In France in October 2011, an astonishing 2.5m people voted, each paying only one euro, in what they called citizens’ primaries. But they had not only to sign a declaration saying they supported the aims of the left, they had to turn up at a polling station. In France in October 2011, an astonishing 2.5 million people voted, each paying only one euro, in what they called citizens’ primaries. But they had not only to sign a declaration saying they supported the aims of the left, they had to turn up at a polling station.
It’s hardly news that the British political system is past its sell-by date, from the first-past-the-post electoral system to the role of party leader. And maybe that’s the important lesson for the future from Corbyn, the man Le Monde calls “un dinosaure gauchiste”. It’s hardly news that the British political system is past its sell-by date, from the first-past-the-post electoral system to the role of party leader. And maybe that’s the important lesson for the future from Corbyn, the man Le Monde says is considered “un dinosaure gauchiste” by the Labour establishment.
If you want to vote in the Labour leadership contest you’ve got until midday today to sign up: support.labour.org.uk • If you want to vote in the Labour leadership contest you’ve got until 3.30pm today to sign up: support.labour.org.uk