Labour MPs are suspicious of Corbyn again

One of the mistakes Theresa May made in calling an early election was not anticipating the effect it would have on the Labour party. Up until April 2017, Labour had been noisily divided between the parliamentary party — the vast majority of whom had no confidence in its leadership — and Jeremy Corbyn whom they couldn’t remove because he had the backing of the membership.

But the snap election changed this dynamic. Corbyn’s internal opponents nearly all went quiet once the campaign was announced. This wasn’t just tribal loyalty asserting itself. They wanted to make sure that Corbyn failed on his own terms — that there could be no stab-in-the-back narrative. They also felt there was little risk in keeping schtum. Labour was 20-odd points behind at the start of the campaign, and Corbyn didn’t look like getting anywhere near power.

What wasn’t anticipated was that Corbyn would lead Labour to 40 per cent of the vote and a slew of gains.