Tristram Hunt; Saint or Devil?

Tuesday 17th January

Probably neither, but Labour do appear to be in trouble.  The poll-ratings, ever unreliable – but what else do we have except a sickening gut feeling that they are probably right – are slipping with each new report.  And Labour aren’t helping themselves; when do they ever.  The supposed re-launch (how many do we need) of Jeremy, where he is going to a-la-Trump, say it like it is, and present himself as an anti-establishment NEW figure, is flopping before it has even started.

The recent history of left-wing politics, both here and abroad has been riven with schisms, arguments and a lack of a consensus that has given the parties of the right an open field.  None more so than here in Britain.  How is it that the Tories, although massively split over Europe can still come together and be running with a policy which more than half of them totally disagree with?  And yet Labour with sliding ratings and a population crying out for some leadership are stuck in the blocks and squabbling about the type of running shoes we should wear and who should wear the vest.

And after last year’s botched Leadership challenge it seems we are in for yet another attempt to embarrass the leadership, or to try to save the party – you pays your money, you takes your choice.  It now seems likely that a succession of Labour M.P.s are going to resign and force a string of by-elections, which Labour may well lose, the latest being Tristram Hunt.  It may just be co-incidence; Hunt has been offered a great job running the V. & A.; Andy Burnham wants to be Mayor of Greater Manchester, Sadiq Kahn thought he could be more effective as London Mayor.  It may be because of boundary changes; Tristram’s seat is proposed to disappear altogether.  It may be the fear of possible de-selections, or it may well be the fear of a catastrophic wipe-out of Labour in 2020.

Those supporting Tristram might argue that he is trying to bring the party to its senses and to ditch Jeremy sooner rather than later.  The latest rumours are that Jeremy will probably resign in a year or two making way for a younger more dynamic voice of the left.  Who knows?  Maybe there will be a completely new re-alignment of the parties of the left, a resurgent LibDem party and UKIP, despite its flirtation with Racism, becoming more left-wing as the SNP ended up becoming.  But I doubt it.  I think we are in for at least ten and maybe far longer years of Tory rule.  In the end Jeremy may not actually be so much the problem as a symptom of the disease; the public have fallen out of love with Labour, new and old.  Though strangely the things they care about are exactly the same as Labour values.  But after 2016 nothing is the same, all old certainties are gone.  We wait with trepidation the unfolding of events – Donald in the White House and Theresa in Brussels.  At least no-one can say that Politics is boring now.