John Mcternan

They disowned Jeremy Corbyn, but it turns out that was only because he threatened their careers

While the Conservative Party is very nervous about when – not if – to defenestrate Theresa May, senior Labour parliamentarians are faced with the opposite dilemma: when, not if, to bow the knee to Jeremy Corbyn. Less than a year ago, eight out of 10 members of the Parliamentary Labour Party expressed a total lack of confidence in Mr Corbyn’s leadership. Less than a week ago, the electorate begged to differ.

What do Mr Corbyn’s critics do now? Simple. They join him. There’s an easy way to state it: “When the facts change, I change my mind.” A major criticism of Mr Corbyn, which I shared, was that he was unelectable. That is not true. He is. True, he didn’t gain Labour a majority – but his starting point was the 2015 result, one of the worst outcomes for Labour in over a century. Under Mr Corbyn’s leadership, Labour deprived the Conservatives of their majority even though they entered the campaign with an apparently unassailable 20-point lead. He did that the old-fashioned way – by ruthlessly tearing down Theresa May during the campaign.

The emblem of that ruthlessness is the way that, after the London terrorist attack, he took the debate straight into law and order and policing – and won, defeating a former home secretary on her own turf. The smooth yet savage way Mr Corbyn praised the emergency services while deploring cuts to them was the moment it became clear he had mastered that fundamental political skill – the art of punching a bruise, repeatedly.

All the momentum, and therefore all the authority, in British politics is now with Mr Corbyn. He is winning the post-campaign as decisively as he won the election campaign. And he is doing it in precisely the same way. First, setting a clear agenda – a Labour Queen’s Speech. Then, standing back to allow the Tories to turn on themselves. Finally, calling for all parties to vote down any attempt by the Tories to propose a Queen’s Speech.

This is part of the case for Labour moderates to rejoin the shadow cabinet – Mr Corbyn is on a roll and he is not resting yet. The other, and equally important part, is that he cannot do it all on his own. The swing in this election stopped short in many places – in some, such as Southampton Itchen, it was very close; others, such as the new towns around London, were a world away.

The next push, “one more heave” as the political cliché goes, requires Labour to reach the parts it has not yet reached. Political momentum will help – polls are already showing Labour with a six-point lead, and Mr Corbyn and Mrs May level pegging as preferred prime minister. This reflects a reality – one more week of campaigning and more of the country would have fallen to Labour.

But there is a danger for all factions within Labour of fighting the last war. For the moderates, it would be an error not to recognise the achievement of their leader. For Corbyn’s team, it would be equally wrong to ignore the need to brigade all the strengths of the party – as the old Labour movement slogan puts it: “Unity is strength”. A shadow cabinet that contained Rachel Reeves, Liz Kendall and Pat Mcfadden would have skill, guile and broader appeal.

From Labour’s perspective this should happen, and soon. When the world is moving you need to move swiftly to ensure it lands where you want it. That was Mrs May’s calculation when she went straight to the Palace on Friday morning to tell the Queen that she was going to form a government with the support of the DUP. She hoped to stay ahead of both her enemies – in her own party, and Labour.

The problem, as ever with Mrs May, was that she hadn’t thought her actions through. Storms raged around her. The backbenchers loathed her Downing Street speech that ignored the defeat of colleagues. Ruth Davidson, Scottish Tory leader, condemned the DUP’S social policies. A seemingly smart move unravelled rapidly. Mrs May was not Thatcher Redux but rather Edward Heath, desperately clinging to power.

Good Labour MPS will now swallow their pride and come to the aid of the party. If Mr Corbyn continues to play his post-election hand with the same shrewdness he showed in the campaign, he will welcome them back.