Europe’s elections show why liberals should avoid fatalism – New Statesman
The contest changes, but the result remains the same: Jeremy Corbyns preferred candidate defeated in a parliamentary selection. Afzhal Khan is Labours candidate in the Manchester Gorton by-election and the overwhelming favourite to be the seats next MP.
Although Khan, an MEP, was one of the minority of Labours European MPs to dissent from a letter from the European parliamentary Labour party calling for Jeremy Corbyn to go in the summer of 2016, he backed Andy Burnham and Tom Watson in 2015, and it is widely believed, fairly or unfairly, that Khan had, as one local activist put it, the brains to know which way the wind was blowing rather than being a pukka Corbynite.
For the leaders office, it was a double defeat; their preferred candidate, Sam Wheeler, was kept off the longlist, when the partys Corbynsceptics allied with the partys BAME leadership to draw up an all ethnic minority shortlist, and Yasmine Dar, their back-up option, was narrowly defeated by Khan among members in Manchester Gorton.
But even when the leadership has got its preferred candidate to the contest, they have been defeated. That even happened in Copeland, where the shortlist was drawn up by Corbynites and designed to advantage Rachel Holliday, the leaders office preferred candidate.
Why does the Labour left keep losing? Supporters combination of bad luck and bad decisions for the defeat.
In Oldham West, where Michael Meacher, a committed supporter of Jeremy Corbyns, was succeeded by Jim McMahon, who voted for Liz Kendall, McMahon was seen to be so far ahead that they had no credible chance of stopping him. Rosena Allin-Khan was a near-perfect candidate to hold the seat of Tooting: a doctor at the local hospital, the seats largest employer, with links to both the Polish and Pakistani communities that make up the seats biggest minority blocs. Gillian Troughton, who won the Copeland selection, is a respected local councillor.
But the leadership has also made bad decisions, some claim. The failure to get a candidate in Manchester Gorton was particularly egregious, as one trade unionist puts it: We all knew that Gerald was not going to make it [until 2020], they had a local boy with good connections to the trade unions, that contest should have been theirs for the taking. Instead, they lost control of the selection panel because Jeremy Corbyn missed an NEC meeting the NEC is hung at present as the Corbynsceptics sacrificed their majority of one to retain the chair and with it their best chance of taking the seat.
Others close to the leadership point out that for the first year of Corbyns leadership, the leaders office was more preoccupied with the struggle for survival than it was with getting more of its people in. Decisions in by-elections were taken on the hop and often in a way that led to problems later down the line. It made sense to keep Mo Azam, from the partys left, off the shortlist in Oldham West when Labour MPs were worried for their own seats and about the Ukip effect if Labour selected a minority candidate. But that enraged the partys minority politicians and led directly to the all-ethnic-minority shortlist in Manchester Gorton.
They also point out that the party's councillor base, from where many candidates are drawn, is still largely Corbynsceptic, though they hope that this will change in the next round of local government selections. (Councillors must go through a reselection process at every election.)
But the biggest shift has very little to do with the Labour leadership. The big victories for the Labour left in internal battles under Ed Miliband were the result of Unite and the GMB working together. Now they are, for various reasons, at odds and the GMB has proven significantly better at working shortlists and campaigning for its members to become MPs. That helps Corbynsceptics. The reason why so many of the unions supported Jeremy the first time, one senior Corbynite argues, Is they wanted to move the Labour party a little bit to the left. They didnt want a socialist transformation of the Labour party. And actually if you look at the people getting selected they are not Corbynites, but they are not Blairites either, and thats what the unions wanted.
Regardless of why, it means that, two years into Corbyns leadership, the Labour left finds itself smaller in parliament than it was at the beginning.
View original post here:
Europe's elections show why liberals should avoid fatalism - New Statesman
- The Courts Liberals Are Trying to Tell Americans Something - The Atlantic - July 18th, 2025 [July 18th, 2025]
- The Liberals Were Right: Neo-Nazi Turns on Trump Over Epstein - The New Republic - July 18th, 2025 [July 18th, 2025]
- Letters: White liberals with Trump anxiety, welcome to the world outside your bubble - San Francisco Chronicle - July 18th, 2025 [July 18th, 2025]
- Fox News Co-Host Says Liberals Should Treat 'Nazi' Like the N-Word - bet.com - July 18th, 2025 [July 18th, 2025]
- Bank of Canada, Crown corporations to trim budgets to align with Liberals cost-cutting plans - The Globe and Mail - July 18th, 2025 [July 18th, 2025]
- Opinion | Why Left-Liberals Are Downplaying Violence In Spain - News18 - July 18th, 2025 [July 18th, 2025]
- Globe editorial: The Liberals need to show their cost-cutting ambition - The Globe and Mail - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- Superman Shows How Far Liberals in Hollywood and Politics Have Veered From Ideal of the American Way - The New York Sun - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- Canada's minister of health is an unknown to most, but Liberals call her the 'godmother' - Yahoo - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- VIDEO: Will party infighting harm the Victorian Liberals chance to govern? - Australian Broadcasting Corporation - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- LIBERALS FAIL ON BAIL: Canadians need to be safe from violent offenders - Toronto Sun - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- In Trump Era, Gender Gap Widens in Tandem With Apparent Mental Health Divide Between Liberals and Conservatives - The New York Sun - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- Bluesky liberals celebrate JD Vance being booed with his kids at Disneyland - FOX 8 TV - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- On NPR and at elite universities, liberals should openly admit their biases - The Hill - July 14th, 2025 [July 14th, 2025]
- Liberals fawn as emotional Tucker Carlson rips Trump for 'ignoring America's biggest problem' - Daily Mail - July 14th, 2025 [July 14th, 2025]
- Neon Liberalism #34: Are Liberals Losing the Culture War? - Liberal Currents - July 14th, 2025 [July 14th, 2025]
- Liberals need to test US-style primaries to engage with voters - The Australian - July 14th, 2025 [July 14th, 2025]
- Conrad Black: Liberals must retreat from their climate obsessions - National Post - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Larry David/Obamas Pairing Shows Why Liberals Win - Hollywood in Toto - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Liberals and conservatives live differently but people think the divide is even bigger than it is - PsyPost - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Liberals Laud Fake Story that ICE Agents Are Resigning In Droves - newsguardrealitycheck.com - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Letters: Campus life harmed by liberals who believe they're always right - NOLA.com - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Jesse Kline: Liberals get a crash course in the importance of natural resources - Yahoo - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Liberals pick Chantale Marchand to run in Arthabaska byelection - Montreal Gazette - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Justin Ling: Mark Carney is the reincarnation of the Chrtien Liberals. Thats not a bad thing - Toronto Star - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Jesse Kline: Liberals get a crash course in the importance of natural resources - MSN - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Where are the Liberals When Iran Mass-Deports Millions of Afghans? - The European Conservative - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- The Supreme Courts Liberals Have an Impossible Task. One of Them Is Charting the Way. - Slate Magazine - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Opinion: The Liberals launch another expenditure review: This time, we mean it - The Globe and Mail - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Liberals could find out soon whether their rushed projects bill will spark another Idle No More - National Post - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Wealthy White Liberals Reportedly Urge Democrats To Be Willing To Get Shot Opposing Trump - dailycaller.com - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Albertas PCs Might Rise from the Dead. Not the BC Liberals - The Tyee - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Cryo-liberals are still dishing up deranged delusions - The Times - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Wealthy White Liberals Reportedly Urge Democrats To Be Willing To Get Shot Opposing Trump - AOL.com - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Liberals, Conservatives, And Independents Form Initiative To Fight For Democracy And Freedom - thedailypoliticususa.com - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- How the Liberals are eroding workers Charter-protected rights - Canadian Dimension - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Liberals dont want Muslim women to demand rights in the Hindutva era. Theres no right time - ThePrint - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- New polls show the Liberals opening large lead over the Conservatives - iPolitics - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Another Saturday Night - Liberals Are Patriotic! updated with how to help the central Texas flooding - Daily Kos - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Vancouver has a new civic party the Vancouver Liberals - Business in Vancouver - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Liberals Lose Trust on Health After 11 Years - Mirage News - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Newsom warms to building, but will California liberals allow it? - Washington Examiner - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Liberals Are Declaring That The Fourth Of July Is Canceled This Year And Even Threatening To Sue People Who Celebrate For Emotional Damage - Whiskey... - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Peter Menzies: Justin Trudeaus legislative legacy is still haunting the Liberals - The Hub | More Signal. Less Noise. - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Opinion | Memo to liberals: Diversity can be conservative - The Washington Post - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Liberals Are Going to Keep Losing at the Supreme Court - The Atlantic - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Hollywood Liberals Slammed as 'Disgusting' for Bleating They Weren't Invited to Jeff Bezos 'Vulgar' Wedding - RadarOnline - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Forget female quotas, its mediocrity thats killing the Liberals - The Australian - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Fatal flaw of liberals is belief that being right is enough | Opinion - The News-Press - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Liberals want Americans to depend on government - Washington Times - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- If old school white-anting Sussan Ley on gender quotas works, the Liberals may pay a heavy political price - The Guardian - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- HUNTER: Have Liberals had their come-to-Jesus moment on crime? - Toronto Sun - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Random Musing: Why some Indian liberals are celebrating Zohran Mamdani and think he is the new Obama - Times of India - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Liberals In California Are Banning Books Again - The Daily Wire - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- 'Liberals need to reconnect with people's deep feelings of being disrespected,' sociologist says - Perspective - France 24 - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Threat of Trump should drive liberals from the middle ground | Opinion - The Portland Press Herald - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- If the Liberals want to appeal again to aspirational Australians, they could start by taxing wealth | Judith Brett - The Guardian - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- The Weekly Wrap: The Liberals must abandon their internet regulation agenda - The Hub | More Signal. Less Noise. - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Data breach may have exposed 200,000 home-care patients' information, say Ontario Liberals - Yahoo - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- M. imeka criticized the Slovak government after the summit of liberals in Brussels for not diversifying gas supplies - European Newsroom - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- ANALYSIS: David Petersons Liberals are remembering the good times. Ontarians should, too - TVO Today - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Carney Liberals urged to ditch DST as Trump terminates trade talks with Canada - Toronto Sun - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Martin Regg Cohn: History reminds Ontarios languishing Liberals that they need to make their own luck - Toronto Star - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Arab Journalists and Liberals Praise U.S. Strike On Iran: The Iranian Threat Is Over; Trump Saved Humanity; God Bless America - MEMRI | Middle East... - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- Conservatives report better mental health than liberals. I think I know why. | Opinion - USA Today - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- Federal Liberals reintroduce cybersecurity bill meant to protect critical infrastructure - The Globe and Mail - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- Threat of Trump should drive liberals from the middle ground | Opinion - Lewiston Sun Journal - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- Opinion: The Tory future may lie with the Liberals - Winnipeg Free Press - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- FIRST READING: All the hidden extras buried in the Liberals fast-tracked omnibus bills - National Post - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- Battin wants to reset and to rally Liberals behind taxes, housing and crime - Neos Kosmos - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- Chaos over withdrawal of EU law against greenwashing. Last trialogue skips, anger of socialists and liberals - Eunews - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- Libman: Quebec Liberals gamble on Rodriguez. Will voters? - Montreal Gazette - June 22nd, 2025 [June 22nd, 2025]
- Hunger strikes! Tears! Arrest! Its been a week of ridiculous performances as NYC liberals chase folk-hero status - New York Post - June 22nd, 2025 [June 22nd, 2025]
- The Trump Peace Prize? Matt Gaetz suggests renaming honor they only give to liberals - AL.com - June 22nd, 2025 [June 22nd, 2025]
- Victorias Liberals saved John Pesutto from bankruptcy. But can they save themselves from all-out war? - The Guardian - June 22nd, 2025 [June 22nd, 2025]
- Q+A | Outgoing Yukon premier highlights renewed energy in Yukon Liberals with new leader - Yahoo - June 22nd, 2025 [June 22nd, 2025]
- Trump Complains He Should Have Won FIVE Nobel Prizes By Now But They Only Give Them To Liberals - Mediaite - June 22nd, 2025 [June 22nd, 2025]
- Putins biggest threat is not from liberals but the nationalist Right - The Telegraph - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- Obama swipes at affluent liberals during rare public remarks, says 'all of us are going to be tested' - Fox News - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- Swedens Liberals bet to revive a sinking party - Euractiv - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]