JEREMY CORBYN
WHY WAS THERE A CONTEST?
• In September 2015 Jeremy
Corbyn was announced as
winner of the Labour leadership
contest
• He replaces Ed Milliband who
resigned after Labour lost the
2015 General Election in May.
• His victory will have a real impact
on British politics for the next few
years
HOW DID HE WIN?
• First of all he had to be nominated by 35
Labour MPs. However he could only find
15 who really supported him. He was
eventually able to get 20 MPs to
nominate him even though they
intended to vote for another candidate.
• The 20 who agreed to nominate him
wanted to widen the debate- and most
thought he would lose anyway.
• There was then a 3 month campaign on
TV and in meetings around the country.
Over 400,000 people voted in this
election
WHO COULD VOTE
• All Labour party members could vote (243,000)
• Members of many trade unions could vote (Over
70,000 cast a vote)
• Anyone who paid £3 and became a registered
supporter could vote (approximately 105,000
people did this during the campaign)
REGISTERED SUPPORTERS
• Of these 105,000 registered supporters
who paid £3 to vote in the election, 84%
voted for Jeremy Corbyn.
• His supporters suggest this is evidence
that he is able to reach out to ordinary
people far more than ‘safe’ politicians
• However many of these ‘supporters’ had
previously supported other political
parties. Even some Conservatives tried to
join believing that a Corbyn victory would
lead to disaster for the Labour Party
WHO IS JEREMY CORBYN?
• He is 66 years old and has been the MP for Islington
North in London since 1983. He is on the left wing of
the party and was a huge supporter of Tony Benn
• Despite his party being in government from 19972010 – he never became a minister, mainly
because he was a huge critic of Tony Blair and
‘New’ Labour
• In fact he voted against his own government over
500 times. He was especially critical over Tony
Blair’s foreign policy and marched against the War
in Iraq in 2003
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UvVKf0LtLQ
We are big fans of Jeremy Corbyn. With
him we can finally see real change in
this country. For too long Labour have
tried to be just like the Conservatives.
Tony Blair even got us involved in a war
in Iraq – A war that Jeremy strongly
opposed
He is not an ordinary politician. He says
what he thinks and he never attempts to
be fashionable. He might be 66 but
young people have been enthused by
his new ideas.
In the last election 34% of people didn’t
vote. If we can persuade those people
with our new and distinctive ideas then
we can win in 2020. At last we will have
a real socialist government
We are Labour supporters but electing
Jeremy Corbyn will end in disaster. The last
time Labour had a hard left programme
was in 1983. This allowed Margaret
Thatcher to win another massive victory
and it took us years to recover.
We lost in 2010 because people didn’t
trust Ed Milliband and many thought he
was too left wing. How can going further
to the left do any better. We have simply
handed the Conservatives victory in 2020.
He rebelled against the Labour leadership
over 500 times, but he will now expect
loyalty. He plans to engage non voters –
but it is the millions of people in the centre
who decide elections – not non voters.
As a Conservative I am very pleased that Labour
has elected Jeremy Corbyn. This will damage
the party and ensure a Conservative
government to at least 2025!
The man is a danger to our country. He wants to
abandon our nuclear weapons, leave NATO
and possibly leave the European Union. He is
always happy to be associated with dangerous
groups, whether that be the IRA or HAMAS
His economic policies will mean higher taxes for
everyone. He wants to spend millions of pounds
on welfare and spending – that has to be paid
for somehow!
HIS FIRST FEW DAYS
• He approached Prime
Minister’s Questions differently
• https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=1TUKGijIzoI
• He was filmed not singing the
National Anthem at a
memorial for the Battle of
Britain
• He announced his ‘Shadow
Cabinet’ (Over half are
women)but half of the old
shadow cabinet refused to
carry on with Jeremy Corbyn
as leader
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
• Will this make a Labour victory in 2020
more likely?
• If you were born before May 2002 you
will be able to vote – would you vote
for Jeremy Corbyn to become Prime
Minister?
• We can no longer say that both Labour
and the Conservatives are too similar –
Is this a good thing?