Corbyn’s gamble backfires
He’s beaten in his own backyard after trying to woo both Remainers and Leavers
JEREMY Corbyn’s leadership was on the line last night after Labour lost control of London to the Liberal Democrats – and slumped to third place in Wales.
On a disastrous night for the party, Labour’s vote share looked set to tumble to third overall behind the Lib Dems.
Critics said the voters’ damning verdict came about because Mr Corbyn had tried and failed to attract the support of both Leave and Remain voters. In the event, voters on both sides of the Brexit divide deserted his party.
In the Leave-supporting north-east region, the Brexit Party polled twice as many votes as Labour. Mr Corbyn’s party fell to fourth in strongholds such as Cardiff and Sheffield.
In Remain- supporting London, Labour lost control of the north London borough of Islington, where Mr Corbyn – who turned 70 yesterday – has his Commons seat, to the Lib Dems.
The full London results showed the Lib Dems taking 27 per cent of the vote, above Labour on 24 per cent. Change UK, which broke away from Labour earlier this year, got just 5 per cent.
It means that of the eight seats up for grabs in London, the Lib Dems took three and Labour two.
Labour also had its worst ever result in Wales, slumping to third behind the Brexit Party and the pro-independence Plaid Cymru.
Last night Labour MPs and peers lined up to castigate their leader for sitting on the fence rather than coming out strongly for a second referendum.
A Remain- supporting Labour source said there will now be a fresh move by MPs against Mr Corbyn. The source said the focus will be on changing Labour policy to support a second referendum, and then challenging Mr Corbyn’s leadership if he refuses.
Emily Thornberry, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, savaged the party’s election strategy, saying: ‘ We went into an election where the most important issue was what was our view on leaving the European Union and we were not clear about it.
‘We should have said quite simply that any deal that comes out of this Government should be put to a confirmatory referendum and that Remain should be on the ballot paper and that Labour would campaign to Remain.’
Anti-Brexit Labour peer Lord Adonis tweeted: ‘Very clear that if Labour had been the party of Remain in this election, we would have won.’ Mary Creagh MP said: ‘If we’d said referendum, remain and reform, Labour would’ve beaten [Brexit Party leader Nigel] Farage. A tragedy for our country and our party.’
Colleague Jess Phillips tweeted: ‘If we had been clearer we’d have beaten Farage. The end.’
Labour MEP candidate John Howarth apologised to party members in the south-east for the party’s expected poor showing.
‘Had Labour’s high command set out to lose an election they could not have gone about it in a more convincing way,’ he wrote. ‘Labour’s NEC [National Executive Committee] had plenty of warning ... of the likely consequences of adopting an equivocal policy on Brexit not based on seeking to remain in the EU.’
In the North-East of England – traditionally Labour’s hardiest stronghold in the country – the Brexit Party collected twice as many votes as Labour. Labour slumped to just 19 per cent of the vote, meaning Mr Farage’s party took two of the three available seats for the region.
In Yorkshire and the Humber, Labour lost control of cities including Leeds and Sheffield. Former Labour MP Jamie Reed tweeted: ‘Jeremy Corbyn destroying Labour in Yorkshire tonight. Yorkshire. That’s Yorkshire. Well done Jez.’
In London, the Lib Dems smashed Labour in Lambeth, taking 28,000 votes to 19,500 for Mr Corbyn’s party. In Camden the Lib Dems took 21,600 to Labour’s 13,500. In Mr Corbyn’s Islington, the Lib Dems took 27.5 per cent of the vote (up 18.6 points) compared to 26.3 per cent for Labour (down 21.1 points).
Labour’s civil war erupted into the open yesterday as hard-Left union boss Len McCluskey accused the party’s deputy leader Tom Watson of using Brexit as a ruse to topple Mr Corbyn and called him a ‘poor imitation of Machiavelli’.
Mr Watson said that Labour must come out strongly in favour of a second referendum, or face electoral oblivion.
Writing in The Observer, he said: ‘For our party’s sake, but most of all for Britain’s sake, Labour needs to find some backbone on Brexit, find our voice – and do it fast.’
Mr Watson described the party’s stance on a second referendum as ‘a deliberate, self- defeating attempt to triangulate between different groups’.
Mr McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite union, responded: ‘Tom Watson’s already out, surprise surprise, trying to take on the role of Prince Machiavelli, but I’ve got news for Tom,’ he said. ‘Machiavelli was effective. He’s a poor imitation of that. If he’s trying to turn Labour members against Corbyn and in his favour, then he’s going to lose disastrously.’
He added: ‘If you look at the Remainers, some of the leading lights, Blair, Mandelson, Alastair Campbell, Tom Baldwin… these are individuals who have actually indicated they’d sooner have a Tory government than a Corbyn government, so take no notice of these phoneys, and stick with Corbyn.’
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell insisted it had been right to ‘tread a really difficult road’ of trying to bring Leave and Remain supporters together.
‘A tragedy for our country’