INTRIGER | Hur lång tid kommer det att ta innan förlorarna efter partiledarvalet har byggt upp en organisation som kan avsätta partiledaren?
På rekordtid har spekulationer börjat cirkulera om planer på att försöka bli av med Jeremy Corbyn, en av de mest vänsterradikala partiledare som Labour har sett.
Den nyvalda partiledaren är inte populär bland alla de partimedlemmar och aktiva som inte tror man kan avlägsna sig för långt ifrån mitten om man vill vinna ett nationellt val.
Många tippar redan att Labour kommer att göra ett katastrofval i maj 2016 när det är dags för lokala val.
En av dessa skeptiker är Dan Hodges. Han har tidigare varit partitjänsteman i Labour och aktiv i både partiet och inom fackföreningsrörelsen i Storbritannien.
I The Spectator har han skrivit om de funderingar som finns i partiet om det nu överhuvudtaget går att rädda Labour.
How long does it take to rebuild a political machine? Twelve months? Two years? Three years? Maybe it can’t be done at all.
[…]
For all the brave talk of resistance and immediate fightbacks, Labour’s modernisers and pragmatists are simply not going to be ready to mount a serious challenge to Corbyn for many months, if not years, after his election. Among other members of the shadow cabinet, there is a growing consensus that it may take up to three years.
First, they will have to build up a base within the constituencies. ‘The reality is there are too many of the New Labour MPs who simply have no connection with their constituencies. It’s going to take time to build up those links again,’ said one senior backbencher. Another shadow cabinet figure agrees. ‘For years, all Labour party members were asked to do was turn up to pack out Ed’s speeches. That’s going to have to change.’
Another problem is that the opposition to Corbyn is fragmented, and needs to be pulled together. Some MPs plan on refusing to serve under him and retreating to the back benches to regroup. Others prefer a strategy of accepting shadow cabinet positions and fighting from within.
[…]
Then comes the need to assemble a coherent alternative vision: should Labour’s pragmatists set out a radical alternative prospectus? Or move towards Corbyn to win credibility with an activist base that has lurched dramatically to the left?
All this will have to be done at a time of a purge, with anti-Corbyn MPs fighting for their very survival. ‘There’s no doubt in my mind we are going to see a move toward deselections on quite a large scale,’ says one shadow cabinet minister.
[…]
The ranks of the rebels will be further diminished next May, when elections are held for 126 English local authorities. ‘We’re looking at the potential loss of hundreds of councillors,’ says one MP, ‘but Corbyn’s circle aren’t worried by that. They think it will clear out a raft of people loyal to the “old party” and opposed to Jeremy.’
How long does it take to build a political machine? A long time. Possibly more time than the Labour party has.
Tidskriftsomslag: The Spectator den 5 september 2015.