There has been an elephantine shift in British politics. Few saw it coming (though some of us did) but there is no doubt that it has happened. Rising like lions from slumber, the British people have endorsed Jeremy Corbyn’s political revolution and have upset the pundits, the establishment media and the British elite.
Against all odds the Labour Party has answered the questioning of its relevance. We have defied the odds without cosying up to Rupert Murdoch and without trying to outstrip the Tories on immigration. We have won seats we have not held for decades without pitting generation against one another and without dividing communities up. This is the new politics.
The result last night has undoubtedly changed the face of British politics. The Tories may have won the battle – for now – but it will be the Labour Party that wins the war. Having been mocked for engaging with non-voters and young people, Jeremy Corbyn has been rewarded for his efforts with a large turnout across both groups. Inspired by his message of hope, the people have called time on an establishment that has locked them out of the process for so long.
Corbyn’s unashamedly radical pitch to the British people and his promise to transform Britain must now form the basis of Labour’s future. Those of us who supported this platform have been vilified from day one as morons by an establishment commentariat that believed our programme for government could only lead to electoral catastrophe. They have all been proven wrong. Far from bringing about the destruction of the Labour Party, this manifesto has resurrected it.
It is true that the Conservative Party is the only one able to form a viable government on the basis of this result. But it is not over. Theresa May’s apparent deal with the DUP will fail. The Prime Minister who offered strength and stability will now enter into a coalition of chaos with a party, some of whose members have said they believe climate change is a myth and that LGBT people are “unnatural”.
For the Tory Party to have fought this campaign on the central smear that Jeremy Corbyn involved himself too heavily with the IRA, it is laughable that Theresa May has the nerve to now consider ruling with a party that has previously been endorsed by the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Resistance. In clutching at power, she will see what is left of her credibility unravel.
Theresa May is finished. The Labour victory in this election is the fact that we have now prepared the electoral map to finish the Tories. It is no longer a question of if Jeremy Corbyn can be prime minister, it is a question of when.
Six months into Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership I called him “one of history’s great opposition leaders”. They laughed, but they’re not laughing now.
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