Corbyn’s defeat is a ‘canary in the coal mine’ warning to Democrats, says Bloomberg

US PRESIDENTIAL hopeful Mike Bloomberg has described Jeremy Corbyn’s crushing defeat as a “canary in the coal mine” for the Democrats as the party gears up for the 2020 election.

With the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary only a couple of months away, Democratic centrists see the UK result as evidence of the danger their party faces if it drifts too far to the Left. Divisions between its centrist and radical wings have been laid bare recently, particularly on health care.

Leading Left-winger Elizabeth Warren, who had been polling strongly, has come under attack for her blueprint to have the US private health insurance system replaced by state-run Medicare.

Moderates have warned her radical policies would make her unelectable.

Mr Bloomberg, a former New York mayor and a late entrant to the Democratic race, said the party should learn the lessons of Mr Corbyn’s disastrous campaign: “Maybe this is the canary in the coal mine. Sort of a catastrophic warning to the Democratic Party to have somebody that can beat Donald Trump, and that is not going to be easy. Americans want to change, but I think they don’t want revolutionary change — they want evolutionary change.”

Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who is now leading in Iowa and New Hampshire, has emerged as the centrists’ main hope as Joe Biden’s campaign falters. He too suggested that there were lessons to be learnt from the UK: “It means that you’ve got to be ready to build a coalition and gather that majority.”

Mr Biden, whose main pitch has been his ability to beat Mr Trump, will rely on a bastion of states in the South to see him to the 2020 Democratic nomination and potentially the White House. Although the former vice-president is faltering in New Hampshire and Iowa, polls give him seemingly impregnable leads in the South.

Mr Biden’s base in southern states relies on his support from black voters. A Quinnipiac poll this week gave him 51 per cent support among black voters in South Carolina, with his nearest rival Bernie Sanders on 13 per cent.