Louis Michael: A thoroughly unexpected outcome
Perhaps the only good thing to come of Brexit was that it got me engaged with politics in preparation for this election. Had it not been for the foundations laid by the Leave/Remain discussions I might not have had any idea what people were talking about when they spouted off about strong and stable governments and Brexit negotiations. And thank god I did, because this was not an election period in which you could afford to be left behind.
Jeremy Corbyn has left a mark on British politics that will be acknowledged for many years to come. Under his leadership Labour have destroyed Blairism. For those who don’t understand what the death of Blairism means, it means the return of political sincerity in the Labour party and the return of Labour politicians who are genuinely concerned with the best interest of the country’s population. Blair weaselled his way in by forsaking the values of Labour, with lies, manipulation and the help of Rupert Murdoch. But Murdoch’s reign of propaganda is over thanks to the record breaking 72 per cent youth turn out.
Labour have destroyed Blairism
In the words of Orwell: “The people will not revolt. They will not look up from their screens long enough to know what is happening”. But the fantastic thing is that not only did we revolt, we did it with our screens. Social media has completely obliterated any of the influence that tabloids may have previously held over the population.
In terms of strengthening the party this is the best result Labour could have hoped for. Rather than having to deal with messy and potentially party damaging Brexit negotiations Jeremy can focus the next five years on consolidating his success, investing in his newly solidified youth support, and forming a strong enough government to overthrow the Tories in the next election (and who knows when that will be?).
Overall June 8th provided a thoroughly unexpected outcome, but one that Labour can be immensely proud of. On the other hand the arrogance of the Tory party has left them broken.
Corbyn’s authority is strengthened going into the next five years, and although the outcome of the hung parliament remains to be decided at the time of writing, this is undoubtably a period of celebration for Labour and devastation for the Tories. This result was about Corbyn’s well deserved personal success, and the success of youth voters for speaking out and refusing to be marginalised. It may not be the dream result, but we can build on the momentum of Corbyn’s hat trick success and who knows what could happen in five years’ time.
