The significance of Labour’s big Oldham victory for British politics
Labour’s victory against the Tories in the Oldham by-election was a landslide. Labour’s share of the vote rose by 7.5%, the Tories’ fell by 9.7%.
Jeremy Corbyn
Right forces ‘free vote’ on Syria
Monday’s decision by Jeremy Corbyn to allow a free vote for Labour MPs on the Tories’ proposal to bomb Syria was clearly not the position he preferred Labour to be in. He had earlier been reported as wanting the vote whipped, and his own opposition to bombing is unquestioned.
Right keeps up the pressure on Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn once again put Cameron on the back foot at PMQs last week, pressing him yet again on his plans on tax credits since the defeat in the Lords. Corbyn’s remark – ‘this is not a constitutional crisis, but a crisis for hardworking families’ – is a memorable put down for a Prime Minister who has attempted repeatedly to shift the debate away from the impact of the cut in tax credits to the alleged scandal of its rejection by the Lords.
But despite these successes, the right have not let up on their anti-Corbyn offensive.
Right-wing hysteria as Corbyn consolidates team
By Jane West
The appointment of Seumas Milne as Labour’s director of strategy and communication is the second key appointment of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership to come under particularly frenzied attack from the Tory media – the first being the appointment of John McDonnell as Shadow Chancellor. The reason is that each decisively indicated the fundamental orientation of the Corbyn leadership of the Labour Party and that it had no intention of backing down in the face of the hostility of the right.
Jeremy Corbyn’s and John McDonnell’s speeches to Labour Party Conference
In case you missed these speeches.
Jeremy Corbyn speech sets out new, winning agenda for Labour
A triumph for Jeremy Corbyn’s first speech as Labour leader will have underpinned his position and won over new supporters. It was a further stage in the political fightback by the incoming Labour team. Delegates left the hall buoyed by both the new style and the new substance of leadership.