A victor totally unprepared to seize his day
WHEN a political party loses its way, the results can be tragi-comic. It is far easier and more enjoyable to appeal to the core of your support, to dismiss necessary reforms as unprincipled compromise – and to turn to a leader who pleases the members even if he repels the voters.
In such conditions, the ambitious and even the competent tend to desert, perhaps hoping that total shipwreck will bring the party back to its senses.
This past week, Jeremy Corbyn’s first venture into the rough seas of high-profile politics has been both comical and sad. Even his keenest supporters have been embarrassed for and by him.
Despite knowing for weeks that he was likely to win, Mr Corbyn was almost totally unprepared.
He had no excuse for this. He is not new to politics, and could have sought timely advice from many sources. He simply lacked the imagination and the gumption to do what was necessary.
Whatever anyone might think of his views, he made a poor, stumbling and rather craven show of defending them.
No doubt some of Labour’s major figures could never have been persuaded to serve in his team. But there is no sign that he used diplomatic channels to persuade them otherwise – and it would have been better to leave a post vacant than to appoint a convicted arsonist to his front bench.
The choice of John McDonnell as Shadow Chancellor showed a similar failure of wit, skill or anticipation. As for his flip-flop on the National Anthem, he ended up looking unprincipled as well as unpatriotic.
These problems stem directly from Mr Corbyn’s politics, which confined him for decades in a small, radical bubble, quite insulated from real public opinion.
Mr McDonnell’s views on the IRA are quite normal in this milieu, which has no idea how shocking its beliefs and lifestyles are elsewhere.
Labour’s sensible wing – which does exist – must take much of the blame for letting this happen. Powerful candidates for the leadership stood aloof. None articulated an inspiring alternative.
Now they mutter feebly about putsches and defections. This is a poor substitute for the recapture of their party for serious opposition, now one of the most urgent tasks in British politics.