Left’s election illusion

It turns out the general election was a Brexit contest after all. Theresa May called the poll to strengthen her hand in the negotiations with the EU, yet the subject itself featured little in the campaign. And the Lib Dems, the only party committed to staying in the EU, were trounced, suggesting the 16 million or so Remain supporters at the referendum reverted to traditional voting patterns. But now the British Election Study has found that Brexit was far and away the issue uppermost in the minds of voters on June 8. When asked to identify their biggest concern, one in three said Brexit or the EU, compared to fewer than one in 10 who mentioned the NHS.

What seems to have happened is that voters who favour a “soft” Brexit but who would not normally support Labour thought Jeremy Corbyn was more likely to deliver it than Theresa May. The Tories won a higher percentage of the vote than at any election for 30 years, picking up a majority of the collapsed Ukip support. But Labour, too, increased its vote by 10 per cent. By denying the Conservatives a majority and effectively ending the prospect of a “hard” Brexit, the Remainers who voted Labour seem to have got their way – at least in influencing how we leave, if not whether.

Yet they may be none the wiser now about Labour’s Brexit intentions, after a succession of contradictory statements from the party leadership about future membership of the single market and the customs union. Mr Corbyn will also have to square this with those Labour voters who want a crackdown on immigration. Above all, it is clear the Left’s triumphalist belief that the election reflected a national move towards the socialist agenda offered by Mr Corbyn is a mirage.