Britain’s Labour Party Faces an Existential Crisis

Boris Johnson’s decisive victory in last week’s U.K. general election is a watershed moment. It means that for the first time, there is a majority in the House of Commons for a specific course of action on Brexit, which will now happen next month. And that majority –- the Conservative Party’s largest since its glory days in the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher -- gives him breathing space if any lawmakers prove rebellious during the next phase of trade negotiations.

But electorally, the performance of the opposition Labour Party is even more significant. It is hard to overstate how catastrophic this result is for Labour. Its total of 203 seats is worse even than its 1983 meltdown under Michael Foot -- until now the yardstick of choice for electoral disaster -- and has no parallel in modern times. Despite Labour having been in opposition for virtually the entire decade, during which time growth in real incomes has been almost zero, home ownership rates have fallen, the Conservatives have pursued unpopular fiscal tightening policies and have changed leaders repeatedly, Jeremy Corbyn’s party managed to lose 59 seats to an opponent with middling ratings who many voters find it hard to trust.