Bleak Midwinter
Polly Toynbee has been a firm supporter of the Labour Party for many years, even as its fortunes declined and finally collapsed under the leadership of Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband.
But even Polly's patience has been stretched to breaking point, apparently, by Jeremy Corbyn who seems to think that his job revolves around having a conversation with a tiny number of already committed Labour supporters.
Now as the Guardian article points out the tiny 1% of the population who join political parties are not like other voters; many are 'zealots' who treat politics as a religion and focus their energies on representing narrow, vested interests rather than the concerns of the wider public.
And as Polly Toynbee points out Labour need something like a 13-point lead by 2020 just to scrape a victory at the next general election which will require 4 out of 5 new votes to come from existing Tory voters in England.
Yet all the polling evidence is that the electorate is running away from, rather than towards, Labour under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.
Labour people are optimists, but this time I see no hope
By Polly Toynbee
I have tried to believe Jeremy Corbyn can win the 2020 election, but more and more it feels like believing in Father Christmas
I have tried to believe Jeremy Corbyn can win the 2020 election, but more and more it feels like believing in Father Christmas
‘Before the surge of pro-Corbyn arrivals, Labour membership was already well to the left of party policy at Westminster.’ Photograph: PA
This is the bleakest midwinter of Labour’s misfortunes. Those emotionally invested in the hope of a future Labour government have never faced such dark days. Ahead lie years of a hegemonic Conservative era, free to do what they like in pursuit of driving the state below the size of anything attempted by Margaret Thatcher.
This is the bleakest midwinter of Labour’s misfortunes. Those emotionally invested in the hope of a future Labour government have never faced such dark days. Ahead lie years of a hegemonic Conservative era, free to do what they like in pursuit of driving the state below the size of anything attempted by Margaret Thatcher.
