Labour Leadership Contest: Corbyn's year in charge has already changed Labour's policy debate, but will it be enough to heal the rift?

Corbyn speaking, just a month after his election, to a crowd of ten thousand people - inside and outside - at Manchester Cathedral, for a Communication Workers Union event.

The Labour leadership contest got under way in earnest on Thursday as Jeremy Corbyn launched his campaign. Evoking the memory of Beveridge, in his speech he promised to lead Labour towards ending the 'five greats evils' of our times (BBC, 2016): inequality, neglect, prejudice, insecurity and discrimination.

Having seen off Angela Eagle in the nominations race, Owen Smith has also stepped up his campaign (Asthana & Elgot, 2016). Unlike Corbyn, who has a - not really of his own making - hostile relationship with the media, Owen Smith is actively courting the media, making TV appearance after TV appearance to increase his exposure amongst audiences who probably don't know who he is.

Smith's key line through these appearances has been to try and present himself as able to be the intermediary between the radical membership and the more pragmatic party. He has promised to be as radical as Corbyn, but more competent at making the practical pitch to the wider country (BBC, 2016{2}).

Owen Smith, in the event of his campaign being victorious, has even pitched a job for Corbyn, offering him the position of Party President - though the proposition was rejected by Corbyn as being the equivalent to a 'Director of Football' (BBC, 2016{3}).

The launch of Corbyn's leadership defence had the appearance of an act of defiance (Sparrow, 2016). Affording no time to his detractors and opponents, he focussed instead on making a Beveridge-esque promise to combat the five great evils and called for Labour MPs to take the hand of friendship, get behind the party and work together.

In fact, the Labour leadership campaign may yet be beneficial for Corbyn. It might well give Corbyn the platform to calmly propose and discuss policy that his leadership so far failed to - conducted as it has been under a concessionless, constant barrage, of media negativity (Cammaert, 2016).

However, his support will be under strain, potentially squeezed by a candidate like Smith - if he can put his message across - with the polls showing trade union members have become less enthusiastic about Corbyn's leadership (MacAskill, 2016).

Smith has already made some promises. The set piece of which was a promise to boost public investment, with a £200bn New Deal for Britain (Edwards, 2016). The proposal has already enthused some Labour MPs, such as Louise Haigh who said she was excited to see anti-austerity turned into practical proposals.

There was a bit of oneupmanship to the campaign though, when a day later Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell announced a £500bn investment plan (Pope, 2016). McDonnell's plan included a National Investment Bank, to have regional sub-sects, for instance a Bank of the North, to manage investment to local needs.

Whatever the variations, both candidates are though confirming support for ending austerity with a big increase in public investment - a move that sits well with what the experts are arguing that the British economy sorely needs to move forward (Blanchflower, 2016; Elliott, 2016).

That alignment between Labour's Left and Right, with economists, is a good sign for the Left, signalling that thinking has shifted away from austerity - making conditions perhaps somewhat easier for those on the Left friendly to public spending.

It might also be a sign that Corbyn supporters, and those on the Left wing of the party that have long felt ignored, even an Owen Smith win in the leadership contest will be far from a defeat to the hated Blairites. Corbyn and his supporters have changed the party and Smith's approach has proved that - they can't ignore the Left anymore.

Contained within the pitch Owen Smith is making is an acknowledgement of the impact that Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters, who put him into the leadership, have had on the party. Their values cannot be ignored.

And yet, tensions remain high. Claims of abuse have come from both sides, of which there is plenty, but those valid claims are undermined at times by claims of abuse by thin-skinned public figures who, earnestly or cynically, mistake criticism for something less legitimate (BBC, 2016{4}).

The question that provokes is whether the breach had already been widened too much. Though concessions are being made in terms of tone and policy, if Corbyn doesn't retain the leadership - and even if he does - the hostility of the party's establishment to the Left still really doesn't make it look, however, like the long term future of the Corbynistas, and their well wishers, is in the Labour Party.

Proportional representation cannot come soon enough.

References

'Labour leadership: Corbyn vows to tackle 'nation's ills''; on the BBC; 21 July 2016.

Anushka Asthana & Jessica Elgot's 'Owen Smith to face Corbyn in Labour leadership challenge: Angela Eagle steps aside to make way for single challenger in race to lead party after receiving fewer nominations than Smith'; in The Guardian; 19 July 2016.

'Labour leadership contest: Owen Smith on Angela Eagle'; on the BBC; 19 July 2016{2}.

'Jeremy Corbyn rejects Smith's party president offer'; on the BBC; 21 July 2016{3}.

Andrew Sparrow's 'Jeremy Corbyn's campaign launch verdict: he was acting like a winner - Labour leader exuded confidence as he laid out plans to tackle 21st century’s ‘giant evils’, but did not confront his unpopularity with MPs'; in The Guardian; 21 July 2016.

Bart Cammaert's 'Our report found that 75% of press coverage misrepresents Jeremy Corbyn – we can't ignore media bias anymore: We all want and need a strong and a critical media, a watchdog of the powers that be, but maybe we do not need an attack dog that kills off anyone who challenges the status quo and dares to suggest we need a different kind of politics'; in The Independent; 19 July 2016.

Ewen MacAskill's 'Labour supporters have cooled on Corbyn, Guardian survey finds: Research finds enthusiasm waning for party leader but no evidence of support for any other candidate'; in The Guardian; 20 July 2016.

Peter Edwards' 'Exclusive: Owen Smith makes pitch as "Labour's future" and pledges £200bn New Deal for Britain'; on Labour List; 17 July 2016.

Louise Haigh's 'Jeremy Corbyn has served Labour well. But Owen Smith is the leader we need: I share Corbyn’s politics – so I’d rather have a Labour prime minister who can put them into practice than a party condemned to opposition'; in The Guardian; 21 July 2016.

Conor Pope's 'McDonnell unveils £500bn investment plan to win over Brexit Britain'; on Labour List; 18 July 2016.

David Blanchflower's 'Have we learned nothing from 2008? It’s clear we’re heading into recession: The warning signs are flashing amber once again. Policymakers must stop dithering and urgently stimulate the economy'; in The Guardian; 20 July 2016.

Larry Elliott's 'OECD calls for less austerity and more public investment: One-time deficit reduction supporter slashes growth forecasts and urges richer countries to exploit cheap borrowing to spend more on infrastructure'; in The Guardian; 18 February 2016.

'Labour leadership: Owen Smith clashes with Jeremy Corbyn over MP 'abuse''; on the BBC; 22 July 2016{4}.