When he was elected Labour leader on 12 September 2015 opinion was uniquely divided as to what impact Jeremy Corbyn would have on his party. Critics looked to his far-left politics and predicted disaster, believing Corbyn would repel millions of former Labour voters who had just re-elected a Conservative government committed to austerity; supporters believed his principled socialism would in contrast save the party by mobilising those alienated by Labour’s reluctant embrace of austerity.
As he prepares to step down a settled consensus has yet to emerge about the Corbyn years. It is likely one never will. For both sides of the argument can point to evidence that suggests Corbyn’s leadership both repelled and attracted, that he was at once a failure and success.
This is because even the bare facts of Corbyn’s leadership are contradictory. Corbyn led Labour into two general elections, the first of which in 2017 saw his party’s vote share rise from 30.4
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