Sweeping win described as “monumental” and “nothing short of a miracle.”
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer For Common Dreams
Jeremy Corbyn scored a “monumental victory” on Saturday, easily being reelected leader of Britain’s Labour Party.
Corbyn got 61.8 percent of the vote to opponent Owen Smith’s 38.2. The Guardian reports that the 67-year-old “won a majority over Smith in every category—members, registered supporters, and trades union affiliates. He won the support of 59 percent of voting members, 70 percent of registered supporters, and 60 percent of affiliated supporters.”
Cory Doctorow writes at BoingBoing that his reelection came despite sabotage from his own party and the UK press’s efforts to “to sideline, belittle and dismiss him.” As such, Doctorow argues, “it is nothing short of a miracle that Corbyn has won the leadership race, and that, moreover, he has increased his lead, beyond last year’s landslide, with a higher voter turnout than ever.”
In fact the Bristol Post writes, it was “one of the most one-sided contests in the history of the party.”
Corbyn urged unity of his party following the win, saying, “We have much more in common than that which divides us,” as he vowed to “do everything I can to repay trust and the support, to bring our party together” and to “win power to deliver real change.”
As the Guardian’s political editor Anushka Asthana writes, the party “is deeply divided.” She continues:
Large numbers of the almost 200,000 people who backed Smith were doing so in part not to make a positive statement for the candidate, but to cast their vote against the current leadership.
Their anger at Corbyn’s reign can be seen in the messages put out, and responses received, by people such as JK Rowling who think the party under his leadership cannot win a general election. Corbyn has earned an impressive internal mandate. Now he faces a much bigger electoral test.
