Last night, Jeremy Corbyn confirmed many Labour moderates’ worst fears when he declared that he would not quit as leader — even if the party loses come June.
Now it’s not uncommon for politicians to say this on the election campaign trail and then act differently in the light of defeat — Gordon Brown did exactly this. But the issue is that no-one really believes Corbyn is bluffing.
It’s widely accepted in Labour circles that Corbyn won’t go without a fight following the election. Even in the face of disastrous election results, he is expected to try and cling on. The biggest factor in whether he can pull this off, will be the scale of the defeat. Given that party expectations are so low, many think that if May were to only win a majority of around 50 seats, Corbyn would be able to hang on fairly comfortably — notch that up to a Tory majority of 150 and it looks a lot harder.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in