Jeremy Corbyn is set to become the new leader of the Labour Party this weekend. The rank outsider is going to be carried to victory by thousands of newly registered supporters, a vast majority of who are said to have signed up purely to vote for him. It is no fluke. Corbyn turned up to the show with something different and interesting. His campaign mobilised a huge following and invigorated the support to position a man nobody saw as being capable of getting even close now within reach of a remarkable victory.
This is not a political point. I write as a member of the party for nearly seven years, and one who did not give Jeremy Corbyn my vote. The dramatic rise of the Islington North MP is not wholly down to his views and convictions, but considerably down to the fact he communicates them so often simply and effectively.
Straight talking
When LBC’s Iain Dale recently asked the candidates at a Labour leadership interview whether they would have Ed Miliband in their shadow cabinet, none provided an answer without the indecisive noise we have come to expect from many a politician. Except Corbyn (he said yes by the way). The 'straight up' answer was enough for Dale to conclude this was the reason why he was miles ahead of the others in polls.
Camp Corbyn has built a sense of authenticity around his ideas. The argument of his credibility or electability is one for another day, but people are responding positively to his approach in promoting them online and offline. His offline backing is seen by the gatherings of people packed into town halls around the country. It is an impressive rebuttal to the claim that those participating in the wider online leadership debate are a small number with a loud voice.
The honest and genuine character Corbyn appears to be amongst those he has won over is almost the antithesis of Yvette Cooper, Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall. That is not to immediately say any of these candidates are dishonest or disingenuous, but they fit the ‘same old’ mould very well. It is arguably Kendall who is the only other candidate who has come close to matching Corbyn in offering something different from a solid platform. It is only reinforced by the scrap between the Burnham and Cooper campaigns, both of which conceded to fighting for second preference votes and almost condemning their own campaigns to irrelevance. They either said whatever followed where the wind was blowing or saying very little at all, catching nobody’s imagination in the process.
Corbyn’s fearlessness to set out his self-labelled and unashamed ‘socialism’ has allowed him to gain and remain in the driving seat for the contest. The #JezWeCan campaign, memes of top satirical order and personal favourite @CorbynJokes are all the result of this.
Whilst they are not always endearing or supportive, they are all focused on one man. It is a failure of others to energise the debate that has allowed him to fill the vacuum. British politics thrives on originality. Once again it will be proven that those with something different to say thrive within it.