Jeremy Corbyn has given a speech today contrasting his more collegiate approach to leadership with that of the ‘bunker mentality’, as he describes it, of Theresa May’s leadership:
‘Barely nine months into Theresa May’s premiership, there are clear warning signs that she and her closest advisers are slipping into that presidential bunker mentality.Whereas it is the job of leadership to hold open the space for dissent, new thinking and fit-for-purpose policy.
So while it might not be the stuff of soundbites, I have always believed in standing firm and empowering others to make up their minds and come on board when they are ready.’
The Labour leader’s aides believe that introducing more of Corbyn’s personal character to the public over the general election campaign will improve the party’s chances at the ballot box.
This argument sounds eerily familiar, almost as if some aides around a different Labour leader had held the same belief two years ago. It is true that both Corbyn and Ed Miliband are the sort of politician who improve upon meeting: Corbyn in particular enjoyed a reputation before becoming party leader as a friendly, slightly eccentric type who would happily shoot the breeze with anyone in Parliament. I had a truly lovely time interviewing him as one of the most rebellious Labour MPs for a feature in 2011. And Miliband had a much better election campaign than his time as Labour leader preceding that campaign. But neither of these qualities are enough: all of us know charming, caring people who we would nonetheless rather not trust with the country’s economy or defence of the realm. And the problem for both of the men who have led Labour over the past seven years is that the public tends to make up its mind about a person’s leadership qualities some time before an election campaign.
What this speech shows, though, is that there are indeed two Labour election strategies, as I wrote on Thursday. Corbyn is trying to run a standard election campaign in which he talks about himself as a leader and campaigns in seats the party would like to win. Many of his MPs, by contrast, are trying to run an election campaign in which they tell their voters that Corbyn will not be Prime Minister and focus on saving their own bacon, not helping new candidates make gains across the country.
The party is still developing its plan for which seats to target, I understand. But no matter how nice and collegiate Corbyn is, he’s going to have an ugly fight on his hands if he insists on diverting resources away from MPs desperately trying to hold their seats and towards constituencies that Labour doesn’t yet hold.
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