Comrade Jeremy sees off the threat from his rebel MPs
JEREMY Corbyn’s leadership of Labour was strengthened last night as early indications suggested a vindication of his Left-wing campaign.
The exit poll showed Labour could have 266 seats in the Commons – denying Theresa May the majority she craved and cementing Mr Corbyn’s control over the party.
The result would be a huge slap in the face to his Blairite critics and means the hard-Left stranglehold over the Labour Party will continue for years to come.
Shortly after polling stations closed, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell warned against reading too much into the prediction, saying: ‘We have to have some scepticism about all polls at the moment.’
But the first result, from Newcastle Central, showed a rise in Labour’s majority. A spokesman for the party said that, if true, the exit poll predicted an ‘extraordinary result’, and that the Tories had been ‘ punished for taking the British people for granted’.
A party source added that if the poll was correct it would represent the largest increase in a party’s popularity during an election campaign ‘by miles’.
But the source said it was ‘far too early’ to consider talking to other parties about the prospect of forming a government.
A gleeful Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry said of the exit poll: ‘They have been right for the last 20 years or so, 30 years, so I think we’re on the verge of a great result.
‘We put forward a popular manifesto with a leader of the party who has withstood the most extraordinary personal attacks, and has actually shown if anybody was strong and stable, it was him. And this is a great result, if it’s true.
‘We will see what happens next but if the Labour Party is called on to provide the next government, we will do so and do it in a unified way under a popular manifesto... with a leader who is strong.’
The exit poll – better than the polls were indicating – means Mr CorbynMPs more will than have beforeas many the as elec-37 tion. It is a personal triumph for the leader, just a year after his own MPs tried to force him out in the wake of the Brexit vote.
Mr Corbyn, 68, is now safe as Labour leader for as long as he wants to stay. This result should put an end to the carping of moderate MPs who have been attacking his leadership ever since he was elected.
Many of the senior figures from the old guard who stepped down from the Shadow Cabinet in 2015 when he was elected may now return to the frontbench.
If the exit poll is borne out, it shows that Mr Corbyn’s Leftwing manifesto – with its plans for was public higher much than taxesmore analysts popularon the had wealthy thought.with the– The beats forecastthe tally result notched comfortablyup by Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband in the previous two elections. Before Mrs May went to the polls, Labour had just 229 seats in the Commons. Ken Loach, the Left-wing film director, told Sky News: ‘It was a campaign in the teeth of a hostile gale think fromit is extraordinary.all the media – so I ‘People are really concerned about things like the health service, they are concerned that they do not have secure work, that they have to work through agencies where they can be turned on and off like a tap. So I think there are real issues that people were worried and angry about, which were not reflected in the coverage but were certainly reflected when you spoke to people. If the figures are right, it is not a huge shock because of the simmering discontent on all these issues.’ Friends of Mr Corbyn said last month that, even if he does not win, he should be allowed to stay on as Labour leader. They pointed to the fact Neil Kinnock stayed on in 1987, despite losing to Margaret Thatcher. One pro-Corbyn source said: ‘There is a tradition of Labour leaders staying on after elections. Kinnock didn’t resign in ’ 87, (James) Callaghan didn’t in ’79.’
‘If anyone was strong and stable, it was him’