Overhaul needed

Perhaps the worst effect of the past two years, in which the possibility of a Corbyn government caused such widespread and deep anxiety, is that it led us to doubt our fellow countrymen and women. Because, with hindsight, we can see that there was no real possibility of a Corbyn government. The British people have never — and, it seems, will never — elect an extremist as prime minister. While relief was the overwhelming emotion felt when we saw the exit poll on Thursday night, there is now also a profound sense of gratitude that we live in a country where most voters refuse to countenance electing to the highest of all offices someone considered by many to be an antisemite (although 10.3 million Labour voters clearly felt that a bit of racism can be ignored in pursuit of other aims).

In that respect, the nightmare is over. Whoever succeeds Mr Corbyn will surely go out of their way to demonstrate that they are serious about tackling the party’s antisemitism. But if this is to be more than superficial gestures, they will need to tackle the culture of the party itself. Because although Mr Corbyn enabled and gave licence to Jew hate, the problem stemmed from all echelons. Most serious Labour MPs know it. The issue is what they do about it. Already, some potential leadership contenders appear to be in denial of Labour’s fundamental problems, offering themselves as merely more skilful versions of Jeremy Corbyn. As the election showed, Labour antisemitism is not just a Jewish issue — it is an issue of concern to mainstream voters of many faiths and none, who see it as an example of the party’s more general toxicity. It is vital to our democracy that we have an electable opposition. In that context, it is essential that Labour’s next leader regards tackling its antisemitism as one of their key priorities.