News Is a left-of-centre PM candidate electable in the UK?

Second Summer

Second Summer

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I was just watching an interview with Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn on Channel 4 News in which the interviewer, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, repeatedly cut him off, and wouldn't let him answer the questions with more than a couple of sentences. Corbyn got visibly angry a couple of times, but at least managed to finish the interview. It probably killed his chances of winning the upcoming Labour leadership election, though.

(I'm not sure if this is the standard format for these interviews, so maybe other interviewees have had the same treatment, but in any case it doesn't look like good journalism and it's not enlightening to the viewers ...)

Anyway, it got me thinking. Corbyn is clearly "left-of-centre" in UK politics, and the UK news media is not very keen on this sort of politicians. The interviewers themselves, of course, are under pressure to not be perceived as letting left-leaning politicians "get away" with anything, thereby being guilty of bias. Or more specifically, a lefty bias, which is somehow so much worse than the unrelenting conservative/rightist bias of the Murdoch press, the Telegraph, The Daily Mail etc...

So with the state of the news media and media ownership in the UK, is a left-of-centre PM candidate electable in the UK?
 
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as the centre moves to the right then yes a left of centre PM could be elected again at some point.
 
Good point. The likes of Tony Blair will soon be left-of-centre. It could be an amusing thought, except I live in this country.
 
I was in the other room when that interview was on the TV and I heard what was being said and I walked back in and rewound it to listen to it properly. Jeremy Corbyn is a gift to the Conservative party.:fp:
 
Labour has "rediscovered losing", former Prime Minister Tony Blair warned as a poll put left-winger Jeremy Corbyn ahead in the leadership contest.

Mr Blair said Labour could win again - but not from a "traditional leftist platform" and said it had to "move on".
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And let it be clear - according to Tony Blair's former advisor John McTernan:
He also said Labour MPs who lent their support to the Islington MP - who struggled to get enough nominations to make it onto the ballot - were "morons".
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More: Tony Blair warns against moving left as Jeremy Corbyn leads poll - BBC News (22. July 2015)
 
But there is more:
On the prospect of leftwinger Jeremy Corbyn becoming the next Labour leader, Mr Blair said that it was "like going back to Star Trek or something. Back to the old days." He added: "People who say their heart is with Corbyn, get a transplant."
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And:
Labour looks like it has been "taken over by a suicide cult", Darren Murphy, a former special adviser to Tony Blair, has warned.
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More: Tony Blair: Labour could spend 20 years out of power if Jeremy Corbyn wins - live - Telegraph (22. July 2015)
 
I think Labour might as well return to its roots, as they aren't gonna get into power anytime soon. Old Labour will still be supported by a lot of people, and maybe they can talk sense in parliament, rather than the Right Lite, that Blair loves.
 
I think Labour have already lost the next election. They have so many problems, not least the fact that they don't seem to have any central message anymore. They have some support in the north and some in the south, strongly in London, but the issues facing the groups are so different that it is hard to reconcile the north and south.

The traditional working class people seem to prefer UKIP or they have moved out of the old working class group as they have become more affluent so Labour's policies don't resonate with them.

I read today that some Conservatives might join the Labour party just so they can vote to elect Jeremy Corbyn as they think it will be such a disaster for Labour if he's the leader?

The whole situation is fairly depressing as there is no serious opposition at the moment as Labour are in a shambles.
 
Moll Flanders said:
I think Labour have already lost the next election. They have so many problems, not least the fact that they don't seem to have any central message anymore.
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Yes, absolutely. Well, I hope they haven't already lost. What I feel ought to be their primary message is saving the welfare state and the NHS.
Moll Flanders said:
They have some support in the north
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I assume you mean north England then, not north UK (Scotland)! The SNP is a better Labour party than the Labour party itself, it seems, at least for Scotland.
Moll Flanders said:
The traditional working class people seem to prefer UKIP or they have moved out of the old working class group as they have become more affluent so Labour's policies don't resonate with them.
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And I think the working class prefer UKIP mostly for one real issue, immigration. The rest seem to have to do with image, with Farage always being sure to have a pint nearby when he has his picture taken. UKIP is the party for those who are tired of bureaucracy, health & safety, and political correctness. Former Labour leader Milliband admitted Labour had "got it wrong" on immigration, but it was probably not sounding sincere enough. Also, UKIP has cemented their ownership of that whole package (anti-immigration, anti-bureaucracy, anti-health & safety, and anti-political correctness), so I don't think Labour won a lot of votes on it.
 
Indian Summer said:
Yes, absolutely. Well, I hope they haven't already lost. What I feel ought to be their primary message is saving the welfare state and the NHS.
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I think some/a majority of people in the UK think that the welfare state is too bloated and needs cutting back so the Tory cuts are welcome to some, particularly people who aren't affected by them! The media has done a great job of turning the public against people on benefits with the TV programmes they keep churning out showing them in the worst possible light.:rolleyes:

Indian Summer said:
I assume you mean north England then, not north UK (Scotland)! The SNP is a better Labour party than the Labour party itself, it seems, at least for Scotland.
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Yes, the north of England.

I'm wondering what will happen with the new leader, some people think if Jeremy Corbyn is leader he will end up leaving or being kicked out within the first year. Maybe there will be a split within the Labour party although I can't see how they could possibly win an election if there was. The Scottish people who voted SNP might be attracted to a more left wing Labour party but they have to win votes in England too... Maybe traditional Labour voters might switch to Lib Dem?

If we have the referendum UKIP will become irrelevant, well I hope so anyway.:D
 
Indian Summer said:
UKIP is the party for those who are tired of bureaucracy, health & safety, and political correctness.
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I think it would be good to address health and safety. So UKIP are against health and safety extremes, are they also against a free national health service? If a pedestrian has an accident in the street that needs medical treatment, and the fault was the councils, do UKIP think the pedestrian should fork out for the cost of the medical treatment themselves in a private hospital, or should they be able to sue the council?

I think Labour has to somehow lose the nannying image.....the new leader should be a smoker and a drinker. :D
 
It looks like Labour is going to elect Corbyn, and apparently Labour now also has a lot of new members ...!
The YouGov poll for the Times claims he could smash aside his three contenders in the first round of votes without having to win over second preferences.
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More than 400,000 people are thought to have signed up to vote for Labour's next leader - and fewer than half were part of the party before polling day.
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More: Jeremy Corbyn predicted landslide 53% victory in shock new YouGov poll - Mirror Online (10. August 2015)
 
It is strange for me to read this thread and be reminded that Tony Blair is actually a Labour politician (remembering that "Labour" traditionally used to be a left-wing party, well, some time ago. Possibly a long time ago, Neil Kinnock comes to mind...)
 
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I have been thinking maybe Labour should just break apart. Old Labour, and New Labour(Labour Lite)...and then maybe at some stage a coalition government could be formed from left and centre parties, that is Old Labour, Labour Lite, SNP, Liberal, Green etc.....that would preserve Labour in the long run, a coalition would moderate both extremes in the parties, and reassure the voters on the left that the coalition wouldn't be too rightwing, and vis versa with voters on the right/centre.
 
Blobbenstein said:
I have been thinking maybe Labour should just break apart. Old Labour, and New Labour(Labour Lite)...and then maybe at some stage a coalition government could be formed from left and centre parties, that is Old Labour, Labour Lite, SNP, Liberal, Green etc.....that would preserve Labour in the long run, a coalition would moderate both extremes in the parties, and reassure the voters on the left that the coalition wouldn't be too rightwing, and vis versa with voters on the right/centre.
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In a fairer election system that could have worked, but I don't think it's a good idea with first-past-the-post ...
 

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