Brits sometimes think that ‘personality politics’ is a bad thing. Jeremy Corbyn has certainly suggested as much; just before he won the Labour leadership last September, he dismissed the concept as juvenile and egoistic. Instead, he said: ‘We are not doing celebrity, personality or abusive politics – this is about hope.’
But although Corbyn has stuck to that belief, he’s wrong – and a big part of his problem is not realising that. While some say the idea of personality politics is an American import, in reality Brits have been doing it for decades. Take Harold Wilson’s advisers planting hecklers at TV hustings so the Labour leader could deploy his best put-down lines. That was in 1964. And ever since the Wilson era, political success has relied on a leader’s ability to cultivate a compelling persona.
Instead, Corbyn’s muddled sentiment about the unimportance of personality in politics – a mantra of his leadership – has framed the gradual failure of his political project.
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