The polls are closed – and today the new face of the Labour Party has been announced. Of course, the candidates already knew the results before any of us did. In this event, the expressions on their faces are always our greatest bet at working out who has won, before the nail-biting moment and the name is announced – “Jeremy Corbyn”.
Corbyn was an outsider, branded with a 20-1 bookie cash-out. Many people were sceptical about this shabby looking man who has been a notorious Labour rebel in his many years. Never was it believed that he would gain the support of MPs, bookies and most significantly, such a warmth from the British public. Yet a growl of “JEZ WE CAN”, has been steadily intensifying since the contest began. I was certainly surprised.
He has led one of the biggest political uprisings in the UK of a grass-roots nature. This morning he delivered his acceptance speech before joining thousands of others attending a march in London on Saturday in support of aiding the refugees fleeing the Middle East. Resonating with this, he advocates for a social movement which be believes is emerging in the Labour Party.
Corbyn could have narrowly missed even being on the leadership ballot, meaning he would be far from the race has won today. Yet through the sympathetic and not as sympathetic MPs who supported him at the very last minute, here he is today. Whilst some of these MPs later expressed their regret as Jez heavily gained support, he is now the “sacrificial lamb” after Miliband, who put himself up to the challenge of Labour leadership.
His campaign has been a real opposition to the way that the political system has run over the last 30 years. It has been rather casual from the outset, yet support for these campaigns ascended and soon attendees were desperately cramming into venues to watch him speak. He is a man who speaks to the people of Britain like a “real person” and is able to truly connect with those around him. Early on, Corbyn quickly secured the support of the trade unions, and soon after many other socialist sympathisers across Britain.
But what will the Labour Party be like under Jeremy Corbyn? A more profound question that is being banded about – what will Britain be like?
Economically, Corbyn has proposed an “end to austerity” – something you heard rambled over and over during the General Election earlier this year. He plans to cut the deficit, but significantly not at the expense of spending cuts. He plans to do this by cracking down on tax avoidance and tax evasion, as well as “tax breaks” for companies. He naturally supports higher taxation for the rich.
In foreign affairs, Corbyn wants to dramatically change the current attitudes towards foreign nations. He believes in political, as opposed to aggressive and military solutions; this includes scrapping Trident, the recognition of Palestine as an independent country and support for refugees worldwide.
At a cost of £10 billion, tuition fees would be lost, to the tune of many student’s ears. In other sectors of education, Jeremy plans to reduce the “charitable status” that public schools hold, by setting up a National Education Service.
And both Britain’s railway networks and energy companies would be renationalised.
Although, many of his peers have stated that they will not serve on the Labour front bench under Corbyn as leader, around 20% of Labour MPs have stated that they would actually be happy to see Corbyn as leader. Which begs the question, is Corbyn as leader simply going to cause factionalism within the Labour Party?
For the last two decades, it has seemed that the Labour Party have been seeking to win over their swing voters in their English marginals, rather than delving into fundamental questions such as “what is the point of the Labour Party?”. Jeremy has been deemed sinister and even a Trotskyist throwback, but Jez has stabbed at the hearts of many across Britain. It could be considered that if anybody is a “throwback”, it is the Blairites, who seem to be stuck in their 1997 victory. Perhaps a level of factionalism will rule out these members.
Corbyn is hoping to draw back Labour from the drawl of the “centre”, which has seemed to lose the identity of the Labour Party in what would have been considered a while back as “right-wing”. Corbyn and his many supporters wish to represent those who want to move away from Neo-Liberal policy, which appeals to the lost support of the Conservatives, for a consistent Labour scheme. The future is ambiguous, but it’s certainly exciting.
Words by Lydia Ibrahim