In the aftermath of the Syria Vote and the Oldham By-election, New Labour has scored itself some marginal points in its struggle with Corbyn - yet Labour remains divided

Hilary Benn's speech in support of expanding military action into Syria has left the rifts between the Left and Right of the Labour Party as deep as ever. Photograph: Hilary Benn by Jodie C (License) (Cropped)

After a number of important events in the week leading up, from the Chancellor's Autumn Statement to the vote on intervention in Syria, it would not have been outrageous to expect some sort of fallout in the Oldham West and Royton by-election.

In the end, however, it was ultimately uneventful. The incumbent Labour Party won, even increasing its percentage of the vote (Pidd, 2015). There was no drama in the end for Labour, no dramatic surge of support away from the party by voters fleeing its Left-wing leader (Harris et al, 2015; Warren, 2015).

Yet the past week's events, Oldham included, have shifted the political field ever so slightly. In the aftermath of the Syria vote and the Oldham by-election, it is the Right-leaning Labour faction who find themselves the marginal beneficiaries in their struggle with Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.

George Osborne's spending review, courtesy of the Office of Budget Responsibility's generosity in predicting a stronger economy, was as much a political play as economic. By performing a U-turn and not cutting tax credits, for now at least, and not cutting police budgets, Osborne was able to make his policies appear much more moderate (Kirkup, 2015).

From a Labour Right perspective, this was a master stroke by the Chancellor. In their view, Osborne will have countered and undermined criticisms levelled by Corbyn's shadow cabinet by removing its main threads and moved the Conservatives to occupy a centre ground they believed was being abandoned by their own leadership. With the Right of Labour feeling that the middle ground was slipping away from them, the Syria debate came at a politically crucial moment.

The vote on intervention in Syria saw a rebellion of 66 Labour MPs against the position of the party leadership (Sparrow & Perraudin, 2015), after - under a barrage of Conservative heckling - Corbyn had stumbled through his speech (Wallace, 2015). It also saw allegations from Labour MPs of abuse by angry constituents - the responsibility for which they were quick to pin to Corbyn (Dathan, 2015).

The biggest moment of the debate was clearly Hilary Benn's speech, which - while much applauded by Conservatives - in truth had little substance. There were no compelling facts, of which the debate as a whole suffered a disgraceful shortage, only emotional appeals. Described as a piece of political theatre (Shabi, 2015), it served both to stake out a distinct position for the Labour Right and to undermine Corbyn.

After so contentious a week, in was not unreasonable to think that sparks might fly at the Oldham by-election. Yet the result was a comfortable, status quo recovering, victory for Labour. Yet the Labour Right was again able to salvage something for themselves.

In Oldham, some on the Labour Right claimed the victory as a win in despite of Corbyn, amongst a population that had little warmth for pacifist republicanism (Pidd, 2015; Warren, 2015). The late Michael Meacher, a strong supporter of Corbyn and the Labour Left, was even replaced by a new MP, Jim McMahon, who is no follower of Corbyn.

This week has been a stern test for Labour. As a whole it has largely scraped through. However, while there were no decisive moments, the Labour Right will feel it has scored some marginal points in its struggle against Corbyn and his new direction. Yet for progressives more broadly, it was just another week of squabbling and division across the Left.

References

Helen Pidd's 'Labour sweeps to conclusive victory in Oldham by-election: Jim McMahon defeats Ukip challenge with massive majority in first poll test of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour leadership'; in The Guardian; 4 December 2015.

John Harris, John Domokos & Dan Susman's 'Oldham by-election: Corbynmania collides with reality – video'; in The Guardian; 2 December 2015.

Ian Warren's 'Why Labour fears the worst in Oldham West: Having canvassed views on the streets of Oldham before Thursday’s by-election, I’ve identified three distinct groups who will decide the election'; in The Guardian; 1 December 2015.

James Kirkup's 'Autumn Statement: George Osborne talks like Margaret Thatcher, then acts like Tony Blair. The Chancellor has again shown that he is a pragmatist, not an ideological state-shrinker - which could have implications for his leadership hopes'; in The Telegraph; 25 November 2015.

Andrew Sparrow & Frances Perraudin's 'Cameron wins Syria airstrikes vote by majority of 174 – as it happened'; in The Guardian; 3 December 2015.

Mark Wallace's 'Where was the practical alternative to airstrikes?'; in Polly Toynbee & Mark Wallace's 'Cameron v Corbyn on Syria: who convinced you? The debate on whether to extend airstrikes to Syria is under way - Two of our writers assess the performances of the party leaders'; in The Guardian; 2 December 2015.

Matt Dathan's 'Labour MPs who backed Syria air strikes hit back after Jeremy Corbyn supporters threaten deselection and anti-war protesters brand them "warmongers": MPs condemn Jeremy Corbyn for facilitating the abuse'; in The Independent; 3 December 2015.

Rachel Shabi's 'Were you carried away by Hilary Benn's 'electrifying' speech? This is political theatre, not democracy: Is this really the sort of leader we want? Wasn’t the unexpected popularity of Jeremy Corbyn and his landslide leadership victory precisely about bringing substance back into politics?'; in The Independent; 3 December 2015.