Post by James G on Apr 18, 2021 9:00:51 GMT
In the May 2017 UK general election, the Conservatives under May won an expected majority: one of more than forty seats. A slight Labour improvement in Scotland - up from one won in 2015 to five in 2017 - didn't offset at all the immense losses which they took in the North & Midlands portion of England. Comparisons to the collapse of the Blue Wall in the US Mid-West for Clinton against Trump the year before were made: Corbyn lost a good portion of the Red Wall in England for Labour.
Having won two party leadership elections in two years for Labour, and still popular, Corbyn at first seemed resistant to leaving his post. He faced another challenge. In 2017, unlike in 2016, he decided to walk first. It was a surprise for many when really it shouldn't have been: he'd just lead his party to a shocking defeat.
Candidates put themselves forward to replace him. Several seemed prepared for a race and thus in a better position than others due to having done the groundwork.
As had been rumoured ahead of the election, Yvette Cooper had a leadership campaign ready to go. She was first out of the starting blocks. Having run in 2015, she once more sought to be Labour's first (elected) female leader. The public profile of her husband, Ed Balls, who had just been on a popular television entertainment show, was flagged up by some of her supporters as a problem yet others saw it as a bonus. Hilary Benn opted to support her instead of running against her and she also secured the backing of Chuka Umunna too: those were high-profile figures on the centre-right of the party who, if they had run as well, could have drawn away votes from her.
Another woman also put herself forward early on. Lisa Nandy, a further MP from the Red Wall who had held on when others hadn't, announced a run. She had been promoted heavily in the 2015 race by the influential political commentator & activist Owen Jones then but family issues had held her back. She opened her campaign with a centre-left message and sought to take the party in a different direction to what Cooper intended.
Kier Starmer and Clive Lewis openly toyed with the idea of running. The two of them had only been MPs for two years though and didn't have enough support among fellow MPs to be able to gain nominations. Starmer's thunder was stolen by Cooper running on the same ground and Nandy targeted the same supporters which Lewis would. Instead of formally entering, the two of them backed Cooper and Nandy respectively.
John McDonnell was the third and final candidate to officially enter the race to replace Corbyn. He had been the former leader's sternest ally through thick and thin. Right out there on the left, McDonnell shamelessly defended Corbyn's leadership and vowed to appoint Corbyn to his shadow cabinet. There would be no change in party direction under him. Though without as much passion, supporters of Corbyn outside of the slimmed-down Parliamentary Labour Party rallied around McDonnell. He attained the backing of the important trade unions too.
It was July 2017 before the winner of the party leadership was revealed. Since his entry into the race, McDonnell had been the favourite. He had opened up a commanding lead over Cooper and Nandy and maintained that throughout. Corbyn had gone out and 'stumped' for him at rallies where the more laid-back McDonnell couldn't quite drive the level of hype that Corbyn could. McDonnell focused less on crowds but instead on winning party member's backing. That he did. Cooper put off many with her perceived high-mindedness and there was also the issue of Balls whose off-the-record remarks to a journalist concerning Corbyn & McDonnell were leaked and spun in a manner which didn't help his wife's campaign. Nandy remained likeable among large sections of the public and party members yet McDonnell hoovered up her votes.
In the end, McDonnell won 51.2 % of the total votes with Cooper coming in second on 27.6 % and Nandy attaining a respectable 21.2 %. Despite taking just over half of the votes, McDonnell had won a decent victory over two capable challengers. He accepted the leadership in a victory speech at an emergency party conference and promised there would be no turning away from the Corbyn-era party programme. Neither Cooper nor Nandy, plus figures like Benn and Umunna, would serve in his shadow cabinet though he did bring in Starmer and Lewis. Corbyn was appointed his shadow foreign secretary: something the former leader thought he was best suited to.
Meanwhile, May got on with the business of being Prime Minister and trying to deal with Brexit. McDonnell took Labour down a path of continued opposition from a far left position leaving so many in his party, including an overwhelming majority of his MPs, aghast at what had become of their party.
Having won two party leadership elections in two years for Labour, and still popular, Corbyn at first seemed resistant to leaving his post. He faced another challenge. In 2017, unlike in 2016, he decided to walk first. It was a surprise for many when really it shouldn't have been: he'd just lead his party to a shocking defeat.
Candidates put themselves forward to replace him. Several seemed prepared for a race and thus in a better position than others due to having done the groundwork.
As had been rumoured ahead of the election, Yvette Cooper had a leadership campaign ready to go. She was first out of the starting blocks. Having run in 2015, she once more sought to be Labour's first (elected) female leader. The public profile of her husband, Ed Balls, who had just been on a popular television entertainment show, was flagged up by some of her supporters as a problem yet others saw it as a bonus. Hilary Benn opted to support her instead of running against her and she also secured the backing of Chuka Umunna too: those were high-profile figures on the centre-right of the party who, if they had run as well, could have drawn away votes from her.
Another woman also put herself forward early on. Lisa Nandy, a further MP from the Red Wall who had held on when others hadn't, announced a run. She had been promoted heavily in the 2015 race by the influential political commentator & activist Owen Jones then but family issues had held her back. She opened her campaign with a centre-left message and sought to take the party in a different direction to what Cooper intended.
Kier Starmer and Clive Lewis openly toyed with the idea of running. The two of them had only been MPs for two years though and didn't have enough support among fellow MPs to be able to gain nominations. Starmer's thunder was stolen by Cooper running on the same ground and Nandy targeted the same supporters which Lewis would. Instead of formally entering, the two of them backed Cooper and Nandy respectively.
John McDonnell was the third and final candidate to officially enter the race to replace Corbyn. He had been the former leader's sternest ally through thick and thin. Right out there on the left, McDonnell shamelessly defended Corbyn's leadership and vowed to appoint Corbyn to his shadow cabinet. There would be no change in party direction under him. Though without as much passion, supporters of Corbyn outside of the slimmed-down Parliamentary Labour Party rallied around McDonnell. He attained the backing of the important trade unions too.
It was July 2017 before the winner of the party leadership was revealed. Since his entry into the race, McDonnell had been the favourite. He had opened up a commanding lead over Cooper and Nandy and maintained that throughout. Corbyn had gone out and 'stumped' for him at rallies where the more laid-back McDonnell couldn't quite drive the level of hype that Corbyn could. McDonnell focused less on crowds but instead on winning party member's backing. That he did. Cooper put off many with her perceived high-mindedness and there was also the issue of Balls whose off-the-record remarks to a journalist concerning Corbyn & McDonnell were leaked and spun in a manner which didn't help his wife's campaign. Nandy remained likeable among large sections of the public and party members yet McDonnell hoovered up her votes.
In the end, McDonnell won 51.2 % of the total votes with Cooper coming in second on 27.6 % and Nandy attaining a respectable 21.2 %. Despite taking just over half of the votes, McDonnell had won a decent victory over two capable challengers. He accepted the leadership in a victory speech at an emergency party conference and promised there would be no turning away from the Corbyn-era party programme. Neither Cooper nor Nandy, plus figures like Benn and Umunna, would serve in his shadow cabinet though he did bring in Starmer and Lewis. Corbyn was appointed his shadow foreign secretary: something the former leader thought he was best suited to.
Meanwhile, May got on with the business of being Prime Minister and trying to deal with Brexit. McDonnell took Labour down a path of continued opposition from a far left position leaving so many in his party, including an overwhelming majority of his MPs, aghast at what had become of their party.