The political class and national press corps seemed stunned by the success of Jeremy Corbyn (From 100-1 to red hot favourite: how Corbyn defied all expectations, 12 September), as if it is a tsunami coming from nowhere. Teaching at Goldsmiths, it has been plain for some time that there has been a rising tide of political resentment reflected in social media networking, demonstrations and packed meetings. It just had no focus until Corbyn came along.
The irony (and the untold press story) is that many young Corbyn supporters are not particularly leftwing. In the case of my students, they face an insecure job future, enormous debts and soaring rents. Yet no one seemed to be paying attention to their predicament, and addressing their concerns.
It is a measure of political journalists’ disconnection from ordinary life that they have been surprised by what has happened. If they report Corbyn’s success solely through the prism of Westminster politics, it will mean they are still not paying attention to what is happening outside it.
A protest has been registered through the democratic system. Let us hope that politicians, and also journalists, respond to it.
Professor James Curran
Goldsmiths, University of London
• When I joined the Labour party in 1980 I had to wait 17 years before I witnessed my first Labour government as a member. Our 16-year-old son joined the party during the recent general election, and if Jeremy Corbyn leads us into the next one I confidently predict that he will have to wait far longer before he witnesses his first Labour government as a member.
Given the fact that our new leader has actively campaigned against so many of the decisions and policies of previous Labour leaders that I have supported, I don’t see why I should now go out knocking on doors with him as our leader. Somehow, I cant see “Corbynomics” going down too well with the Tory voters we have to convince to vote for us in 90-plus constituencies in 2020 to form a government.
Mark Rees
Aberystwyth, Ceredigion
• When Jeremy Corbyn first declared his candidacy as Labour leader – and especially when his polling figures started to rise – it was said that he was putting ideology before party. Now that he has won a thumping victory in a brilliant show of democracy and of what the Labour party actually wants, several former frontbenchers have said they won’t serve in the shadow cabinet, although (I hope I’m not being too pernickety) they’ve not actually been invited to do so. Just explain to me again: who is it putting ideology before party?
W Stephen Gilbert
Corsham, Wiltshire
• All due congratulations to Jez. If, however, the Labour party wishes to be more inclusive, maybe next time, just the one election for both leader and deputy would be adequate, with the proviso that the deputy should be the next most popular candidate of the opposite gender.
Secondly, to ensure all sections of the party are fairly represented, would it be wise for the parliamentary party to elect the (shadow) cabinet by a system of PR, such that each MP chose not only those whom they wished to see on the frontbench, but also the particular portfolio for which they wanted each of their nominees to be responsible?
Peter Emerson
Director, the de Borda Institute
• To most people Len McCluskey spitting venom about the ruling class is no more appealing than Bullingdon Club members sneering about the workshy proles.
To get support across the board, Corbyn needs to get in there and show that the real divide is vertical, not horizontal, between the greedy and selfish of all classes and those who want to live in an equitable society.
Pauline Gaunt
London
• My view of Jeremy Corbyn today is oddly similar to my view of Margaret Thatcher in 1979. I thought that her ideas were almost entirely wrong, yet simultaneously thought that this was probably the person who was needed at the time, and for at least the next two or three years.
In Thatcher’s case you could probably summarise the reason by giving some names, like Jones and Scanlon. In Corbyn’s case you can summarise in a two-word name: New Labour.
Roger Schafir
London
• Three cheers for Ed Miliband, whose changes to Labour’s election system facilitated this exercise in democracy, and has re-energised a tired party.
Les Bright
Exeter, Devon
• At last, at last, the ghost of Thatcher has been expunged from the Labour party’s soul.
Brian Derbyshire
Manchester
More letters on the future of Labour under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership:
