When Ed Miliband resigned after Labour’s defeat in May, he said, “I believe I have brought a culture to this party, an ability to have disagreement without being disagreeable.”
Those have been the watch words for the period of intense introspection and upheaval the party had been through since May. The media coverage of the contest has become the story of one man, Jeremy Corbyn. Thousands have taken advantage of Labour’s new election system to join up and propel him from rank outside to frontrunner.
Faced with this overwhelming surge of grassroots support, the other three candidates, Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall, have been tarred as mainstream politicians and thereby out of touch. Ms Kendall has been subjected to considerable backlash for her Blairite campaign, and branded as a “Tory” by opponents. Meanwhile, Andy Burnham resorted to playing down his Westminster connections and Yvette Cooper attempted to use a large surge to position herself as the main opposition to Mr Corbyn.
As a result, the questions asked of Burnham, Kendall and Cooper have all merged into one – ‘can you stop Corbyn?’ However, the emergence of the Islington North MP at the head of the pack has provoked deeper questions that Labour must address.
Some have cast this contest as being a civil war between Labour’s left and right wings. However, in truth, the schism is actually one between top and bottom. If elected leader, Jeremy Corbyn will enjoy considerable support from the grassroots, but antipathy from those at the top, especially in the Parliamentary Labour Party. His election would present a real challenge to the top-down model of politics and an interesting opportunity for all political parties to assess the future direction of the Labour Party.
Speculation has centred over whether or not the soul of the party should be guided by philosophy or electability, as some have characterised it. However, Liz Kendall, seen by many to represent the flagging Blairite faction in the race, has warned that Jeremy Corbyn and the left do not have monopoly on Labour’s principles.
Nevertheless, the Corbyn wave has been credited with influencing elections to take place next year.
The selection of Tooting MP Sadiq Khan over former New Labour Cabinet Minister Dame Tessa Jowell as the Labour candidate for London Mayor in 2016 is already being seen as indicative of the shift in the party’s base.
Whoever emerges triumphant tomorrow will need to take Labour in a radically different direction in order to win power. An emboldened grassroots will demand a differentiation and recognition of the influence Corbyn has had over the contest. Meanwhile, a new deputy leader, Tom Watson, Angela Eagle, Ben Bradshaw, Caroline Flint or Stella Creasy, will be in charge of reconciling the party’s figureheads with its supporters.
Whilst we wait for the result tomorrow, there is one lesson we can take away from this summer - expect the unexpected.
DeHavilland has prepared a briefing on the policies and people who will be guiding and influencing the new Labour leader. You can pre-order your copy online here.