It would be easy for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party to sit back and watch Theresa May’s Premiership crumble. Amid the Conservative’s disastrous performance at the ballot box, the unfathomable irony of their negotiating position with the DUP, and rumours of a Scottish Conservative breakaway from the main party; it would be all too easy for the Labour Party to revel in the chaotic aftermath of this General Election.
The Conservatives ran their campaign on the simple principal of providing ‘Strong & Stable Leadership in the National Interest’ as opposed to a ‘Coalition of Chaos’ led by Jeremy Corbyn.
Theresa May called this election to strengthen her grip on power at a time when the British tabloids and the opinion polls painted Mr. Corbyn in a most unfavourable light; a ‘terrorist sympathiser’, as ‘unelectable’ and a ‘threat to national security’.
Labour Force
The Labour Party fought this general election on a clear ticket of anti-austerity, socialist, pro-worker ideals. Throughout this campaign the Tories, in unison with the British tabloids and broadcast media, would leap at any opportunity to chastise Jeremy Corbyn for his perceived inability to form a stable government, his radical history and the ‘inevitable’ total abandonment of Labour’s electoral base.
It became evident that Jeremy Corbyn was fighting against not only the Conservative Party, but also its extended influence in the nation's news outlets; those that would provide coverage of the election campaign to the electorate.
The press, the government and even a large portion of Labour’s own parliamentary force were already scribbling obituaries for Corbyn, for his ‘corbynista’ supporters and for British socialism before the first vote had been cast on Thursday.
As the last ballot was counted in the Kensington constituency on Friday morning, it was Theresa May, her top-aides, the Conservative’s parliamentary majority and ‘hard Brexit’ for whom the bell tolled.
Labour gained 30 seats in Westminster, the Conservatives lost 13; bringing each to 262 and 318 respectively, both falling short of the 326 needed to establish a majority government.
Corbyn enthused the voter
Jeremy Corbyn is not the typical parliamentarian; he’s a campaigner. The labour leader is in his element amongst the people, on the doorstep and speaking to the ballot casters.
It was Mr. Corbyn’s undeniable ability to enthuse people in the run-up to June 8th that turned the outcome of this election on its head.
In the face of seemingly insurmountable adversity from all sides, the Labour leader delivered an election performance the likes of which the Party hasn’t enjoyed since 1945.
Quick-fix administration
It’s all too easy to feel like Labour won this election, but despite the humiliating position the Conservatives find themselves in, the chaotic prospect of a coalition with the DUP and a leader entering Brexit negotiations with a compromised hold on power; the Conservatives are still in power. As the Tories scramble together a quick-fix administration to keep themselves in government, Labour will work under the assumption a Conservative-DUP coalition is untenable and act to form a minority government; amending the Queen's Speech in Parliament.
This election result has been a second consecutive act of defiance from the British electorate, voting to leave the European Union in 2016, followed by a vote of confidence in Labour's manifesto and its clear opposition to the further austerity policies, public service and NHS funding cuts offered by the Conservatives.
