Socialist Jeremy Corbyn to Resign as Labour Party Leader After Election Whipping
Richard Moorhead
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Jeremy Corbyn announced that he will resign as leader of the UK’s Labour Party when speaking after his party’s devastating landslide defeat in Thursday’s general election.
Corbyn’s leadership became untenable when it became clear his party would lose overwhelmingly to Boris Johnson’s tories. The Labour leader and longtime socialist activist confirmed that he would tenatively step down as leader of the party when speaking at his election event Thursday night in his constituency of Islington North.
“I will not lead the party in any future general election campaign. I will discuss with our party to ensure there is a process now of reflection on this result and on the policies that the party will take going forward. And I will lead the party during that period to ensure that discussion takes place and we move on into the future.”
Corbyn will remain on as leader of the party during a transitional period, probably hoping to usher in a leader that shares his left-wing views.
Exit polls suggest that Johnson’s Tories will secure a sizable majority in Parliament, taking a whopping 368 seats compared to Labour’s 191. The Conservatives will now have enough votes to finalize a Brexit plan without the votes of Labour Members of Parliament.
The socialist claimed that the left-populist policy positions he staked his party’s general election campaign on were in fact popular, but that the prevalence of ongoing Brexit proceedings in the United Kingdom drowned out his arguments. Labour offered a vague and lukewarm Brexit policy, refusing to endorse outright rejecting the 2016 referendum while rejecting a commitment to following through on the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
The defeat of Corbyn’s Labour at the hands of Boris Johnson’s establishment conservative party signals a significant setback for left-wing populists and socialists across the western world. Corbyn had been known for a willingness to push his party further to the left than what voters usually associated with a center-left party.
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