Therese Raphael, Columnist

U.K. Labour Party Stands Up for Irrelevance

Newly re-elected as leader, Jeremy Corbyn seems more intent on ideological consistency than winning votes.

September 26, 2016 at 1:25 PM UTC

Therese Raphael is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion covering health care and British politics. Previously, she was editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe.

Left-turn.
Photographer :Leon Neal/Getty Images

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Shortly after British voters defied the leaders of both major political parties by deciding in June to leave the European Union, it was tempting to write the political obituary of Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. His party's polling was at a three-decade low. Most of his shadow cabinet resigned, furious that he was a no-show during the Brexit campaign. Labour members of Parliament held a confidence vote and Corbyn lost, 172 to 40.

But announcements of his death turned out to be greatly exaggerated. The only polls that mattered were those of the Labour Party rank-and-file and it, together with the unions that still help shape party policy, was not about to desert the leader. Three months later, Corbyn is firmly in charge.