The Corbyn Effect
Labour's 'lost' leader John Smith died 24 years ago today.
At the time of his death, which came as a great shock, the Labour opposition enjoyed huge opinion poll leads over the Tories raging from 15% to 21% - a gulf which widened even further under Labour's new leader Tony Blair.
Yet the latest opinion polls with Jeremy Corbyn as leader have the Tories have the Tories ahead by five percentage points and Theresa May pulling further ahead, by fourteen points, in the 'Who would make the best Prime Minister stakes'.
It's a funny old world, as the former Labour home secretary Alan Johnson observes in this interview with Michale Settle in The Herald.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/16217219.Labour__in_worst_position_since_the_early_1980s___says_former_Home_Secretary/
Labour 'in worst position since the early 1980s', says former Home Secretary
By MICHAEL SETTLE - The Herald
Back to 1980s? Johnson claims Corbyn's leadership will "all end in tears"
Labour is in its "worst position since the early 1980s" Alan Johnson, the former Home Secretary, has claimed, saying the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn would “all end in tears”.
His remarks came as a YouGov poll of more than 1,600 adults undertaken earlier this week put the Tories five points ahead of Labour with analysis showing support for the UK Opposition fell in almost half of the 50 most marginal constituencies where all councillors were up for election last week.
Speaking at a conference held at Brighton College, Mr Johnson - who also served as Education Secretary and was Shadow Chancellor under Ed Miliband’s leadership - also dismissed Labour's pledge to scrap tuition fees as "a crazy piece of populism".
Mr Johnson told delegates: "We are in a worse position than we were in the early 80s, when Militants tried to take over the party."
Militant was a Trotskyist group in control of Liverpool City Council during the 1980s and which dominated the Labour Party there.
"Ever since we were formed in 1900 by 27 trade unionists in London, ever since then people to our left and people who believed in revolutionary socialism, which the Labour Party never has - we believe in democratic socialism - have tried to come into the party," explained Mr Johnson.
"That's not saying that everyone who's come in since Jeremy won is a revolutionary socialist. But all the people who were chucked out when Militant was around are back in," he declared.
Mr Johnson went on to question the purpose of pro-Corbyn group Momentum, saying: "Why do we need a second organisation within an organisation, particularly when it is just a fan club for the leader?"
The former Hull MP said the Labour leader had a "particular niche" as a backbencher and argued that two factors had fuelled his successful bid for the leadership - a move by Mr Miliband to change the voting system and allow people to join the party for £3 and take part in the vote, and a decision by some senior Labour figures, such as Margaret Beckett, Sadiq Khan and Frank Field, to nominate Mr Corbyn to put him on the ballot paper, but not support his campaign.
Mr Johnson acknowledged that "there's something about some hope" that he has given young people, but added: "In the end, it will all end it tears for the party."
The former minister, who was part of the Labour government that introduced £3,000 tuition fees, also criticised Labour's pledge to scrap fees, arguing "it is a crazy policy".
He said: "The tuition fee system is the best way of ensuring there is a contribution from the students to higher education that is fair and equitable and that has helped to close the social gap.
"We have pledged to abolish it, which will cost £11 billion. It's a crazy piece of populism," he added.
Meanwhile, the poll for The Times put the Tories on 43 per cent, up one point on last week, Labour was unchanged at 38 per cent and the Liberal Democrats were up two points to nine per cent.
This is the fourth poll in a row showing a four to five-point lead for Theresa May’s Conservatives.
Possible contributing factors to the Tory lead include the anti-Semitism row within Labour and Mr Corbyn’s handing of the Russia attack in Salibsury.
The Prime Minister also extended her lead over the Labour leader from 10 points to 14 when voters were asked to choose the best prime minister.
Some 39 per cent chose Mrs May, up two points, while 25 per cent opted for Mr Corbyn, down two points.
While the Corbyn faithful keep repeating their mantra of 'just one more heave' - I think The Times cartoonist Peter Brookes has a more accurate analysis of Thursday's local election results in England in which Labour failed to capture any of its target seats.
Supporters of Jeremy Corbyn predicted huge gains in yesterday's local council elections in England, but ended up losing even Barnet Council in London (a key target) where the Conservatives gained overall control.
Maybe it's time that diehard Corbyn supporters woke up to the fact that Jeremy is part of the problem - rather than part of the the solution.
The latest YouGov poll confirms that the Labour leader is in third place for 'Best Time Minister' behind the Don't Knows.
Back to 1980s? Johnson claims Corbyn's leadership will "all end in tears"
Labour is in its "worst position since the early 1980s" Alan Johnson, the former Home Secretary, has claimed, saying the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn would “all end in tears”.
His remarks came as a YouGov poll of more than 1,600 adults undertaken earlier this week put the Tories five points ahead of Labour with analysis showing support for the UK Opposition fell in almost half of the 50 most marginal constituencies where all councillors were up for election last week.
Speaking at a conference held at Brighton College, Mr Johnson - who also served as Education Secretary and was Shadow Chancellor under Ed Miliband’s leadership - also dismissed Labour's pledge to scrap tuition fees as "a crazy piece of populism".
Mr Johnson told delegates: "We are in a worse position than we were in the early 80s, when Militants tried to take over the party."
Militant was a Trotskyist group in control of Liverpool City Council during the 1980s and which dominated the Labour Party there.
"Ever since we were formed in 1900 by 27 trade unionists in London, ever since then people to our left and people who believed in revolutionary socialism, which the Labour Party never has - we believe in democratic socialism - have tried to come into the party," explained Mr Johnson.
"That's not saying that everyone who's come in since Jeremy won is a revolutionary socialist. But all the people who were chucked out when Militant was around are back in," he declared.
Mr Johnson went on to question the purpose of pro-Corbyn group Momentum, saying: "Why do we need a second organisation within an organisation, particularly when it is just a fan club for the leader?"
The former Hull MP said the Labour leader had a "particular niche" as a backbencher and argued that two factors had fuelled his successful bid for the leadership - a move by Mr Miliband to change the voting system and allow people to join the party for £3 and take part in the vote, and a decision by some senior Labour figures, such as Margaret Beckett, Sadiq Khan and Frank Field, to nominate Mr Corbyn to put him on the ballot paper, but not support his campaign.
Mr Johnson acknowledged that "there's something about some hope" that he has given young people, but added: "In the end, it will all end it tears for the party."
The former minister, who was part of the Labour government that introduced £3,000 tuition fees, also criticised Labour's pledge to scrap fees, arguing "it is a crazy policy".
He said: "The tuition fee system is the best way of ensuring there is a contribution from the students to higher education that is fair and equitable and that has helped to close the social gap.
"We have pledged to abolish it, which will cost £11 billion. It's a crazy piece of populism," he added.
Meanwhile, the poll for The Times put the Tories on 43 per cent, up one point on last week, Labour was unchanged at 38 per cent and the Liberal Democrats were up two points to nine per cent.
This is the fourth poll in a row showing a four to five-point lead for Theresa May’s Conservatives.
Possible contributing factors to the Tory lead include the anti-Semitism row within Labour and Mr Corbyn’s handing of the Russia attack in Salibsury.
The Prime Minister also extended her lead over the Labour leader from 10 points to 14 when voters were asked to choose the best prime minister.
Some 39 per cent chose Mrs May, up two points, while 25 per cent opted for Mr Corbyn, down two points.
The Corbyn Effect (07/05/18)
While the Corbyn faithful keep repeating their mantra of 'just one more heave' - I think The Times cartoonist Peter Brookes has a more accurate analysis of Thursday's local election results in England in which Labour failed to capture any of its target seats.
The Corbyn Effect (05/05/18)
Maybe it's time that diehard Corbyn supporters woke up to the fact that Jeremy is part of the problem - rather than part of the the solution.
The latest YouGov poll confirms that the Labour leader is in third place for 'Best Time Minister' behind the Don't Knows.
