Has the forward march of Corbynism been halted?
Jeremy Corbyn succeeded because he defined himself as against the system: but now, with the party split and his message on the wane, the strategy may have come unstuck, says John Rentoul
It is odd that the two main parties should be splintering now. It looks as if the imminent crunch of leaving the EU has finally forced party loyalties to break. But the paradox is that, as Anna Soubry admitted, none of this week’s defections changes the parliamentary arithmetic on Brexit. What is more, “the last thing this country needs is a general election” to change that arithmetic, Soubry added.
But the causes of the defections from both main parties go beyond Brexit, and the implications of the launch of the Independent Group of MPs are more for Jeremy Corbyn than for the prime minister.
After all, the Conservative Party doesn’t intend to fight the next election under Theresa May’s leadership, whereas Labour Party members are eager and hopeful to see Corbyn try to repeat the trick of exceeding expectations that he pulled off last time.
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