One has to hand it to Mr Corbyn, he is anything but pusillanimous when it comes to fighting for his place as Labour Leader

 

Jeremy Corbyn is a politician in the middle of a political melee. All around him and his party people that were once his opposition, Cameron, Farage, Johnson, have resigned their titles amidst the shock waves of Britain’s Brexit.

Each of Corbyn’s foes resigned on the basis of believing that it is time for someone else to take over in this new era of British politics — an era that even now is being contested.

The petition asking for a second referendum and acquiring over four million signatures, a record for the Government site, will be debated in the House of Commons on September 5th. The question still stands however: can Corbyn carry on commanding his chaotic party as ex-shadow Business Secretary Angela Eagle officially challenges his leadership?

Yes, is the simple answer. But it would be a brave man to bet that when Labour voters take to the ballot box that it will be a large victory for Corbyn, a politician that recently lost a vote of confidence (172-40).

However, whilst the majority of MPs may wish to see a change of leadership Corbyn still has a strong band of support, particularly amongst the newest members of the Labour Party. In the six days after the Referendum on June 23rd, over 130,000 people joined Labour — of that group, over 60 per cent of the predominantly 18-25 age bracket said that the main reason they signed up was to support Corbyn. Indeed, it was thanks to Corbyn that the Labour Youth movement was revitalised in the months after his appointment.

Sadly however, it seems that after just ten months the Youth Activists (different from standard membership) of Labour have lost confidence, with over 400 signing a letter sent days after Brexit asking for Corbyn to resign.

Corbyn’s lacklustre campaign for Remain is the most notable reason why his party has lost confidence in him. It was Corbyn’s failure to work with politicians from rival parties, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats and his failure to unite his MPs and voters successfully around Remain, that contributed towards a victory for Leave.

There is more to the pre-Referendum shambles though than meets the eye. While Corbyn failed to unite his party during the campaign, it appears that as a result we the public, may have missed what he was saying. During the build-up to the vote while fellow Remain politicians were scaremongering and Leave politicians were writing resignation speeches, Corbyn was trying to get across to us, the electorate, that before we look at the economic uncertainties we need to recognise the harsh social divisions within our country.

It very much appears that we didn’t listen as we look at our country today. We are more divided than ever socially. The North-South divide is at its greatest and hate crimes have gone up by 57 per cent, with racist graffiti being daubed on the Polish and Social Cultural Association in London. What Brexit has done is lift the shroud from over our eyes showing us, not just what a huge mistake leaving the EU was but also, how many problems and divisions there are in our ‘Great’ Britain — issues and problems highlighted by one quiet politician.

So of Jeremy Corbyn’s upcoming Labour leadership battle I’ll say that as much as people, Labour voters and not, might criticise and despair at his leadership, I think he is the way forward for a party that will benefit from the stability of not throwing their captain off the ship.

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