We may yet get a credible opposition

IT DOES appear that the period during which Jeremy Corbyn and his allies have been controlling the Labour Party may be coming to an end.

Today we report how four constituency Labour parties in Wales that nominated Mr Corbyn for the leadership in 2015 and/or 2016 have now nominated Sir Keir Starmer to become his successor.

Similar changes of allegiance have occurred in constituencies in England and Scotland.

Election defeat can have different consequences for political parties.

Sometimes it makes them want to retreat into a navel-gazing, selfindulgent morass dominated by recriminations between factions.

Alternatively, defeat can act as a spur to put things right so there is a chance of winning next time.

Labour, of course, has now lost four general elections in a row – one more than during the “13 years of Tory misrule” between 1951 and 1964 and the same number of losses as when the party sustained 18 years in the wilderness between 1979 and 1997.

Many party members are sick of losing elections and want to get back in power as soon as possible.

It won’t be an easy task. To win an overall majority next time Labour would have to win 124 extra seats – a very tall order indeed.

But it seems the message may have got home even to some of Mr Corbyn’s supporters that electing someone in his mould may not be a good idea.

Rebecca Long-Bailey, who has been publicly endorsed by Mr Corbyn’s de facto deputy John McDonnell, is not attracting anywhere near the same level of support that Mr Corbyn was able to muster at the height of his popularity.

Although they may not enjoy admitting it, many Labour activists were traumatised by the level of negativity they encountered towards Mr Corbyn.

Some defeated former MPs have spoken about this since the election, and since the new leadership contest got underway there has not been the triumphalist approach adopted by Ms Long-Bailey and her team that one would perhaps have expected if she was on course for victory.

Whatever one’s political stance, there should be agreement that what this Parliament desperately needs is a credible and functioning opposition able to hold Boris Johnson to account and capable of offering an alternative government. We may get that in April.