HOW WE GOT HERE u'i i: Mike Phipps reviews Corbyn s Campaign, edrted nyrc^ Unterrainer, pubLished by Spokesman, price t7.95 pbk 7r. ""A

HO\ry DID HE DO IT? How did a long- within days of its launch. Once Corbyn had helped develop a clear narrative as to why serving Labour backbencher, with agreed to stand, a massive e{Iort was Labour lost the election, particularly in negligible support from the overwhelming mobilised to secure the requisite number Scotland where it had been trounced by an majority of his parliamentary colleagues, of nominations. which the mainstream SNP often campaigning on policies to the come from being a 200 1 outsider to win media lazily assumed had been "gifted" to left of Labour while other leadership the biggest mandate any British party him oui oi MPs' magnanimiry - nol so. contenders were concluding we needed to leader has ever achieved in an internal The +JezWeCan social media campaign be more iike UKIP Corbyn s proposals to election - all in the face of a hysterical was, says Ben Sellers, "the biggest single solve the housing crisis, his welcoming of media barrage and attempts by his own campaign for an individual politician this support from the trade unions which other party to prevent his supporters registering? country has ever seen." Up to two million candidates disdained, his long-held belief One obvious reason was the rule changes people were seeing its Facebook posts in a peaceful, demilitarised world and his introduced under , originally every week, with on average 200,000 concrete proposals on protecting the to distance the Parly from its afflliated iiking, sharing and commenting on them. environment all helped broaden his appeal. unions. But the reform had the added effect On , the campaign gained 64,000 But beyond the popular programme, of removing entirely from the electoral followers and in one Twitter storm it was is also the antithesis ofthe process the weighted vote of Labour MPs, mentioned 22,500 times in two hours. At modern career politician - selfless, former$ one third of the electoral college, the last televised hustings in Gateshead, collegiate and principled. This allows him whose stranglehold would now be solely the campaign },:rad 69% of all Twitter to resonate not just with Labour's on the nomination process. Meanwhile mentions, compared to and grassroots, but among many who voted for creating a new category of supporters who Andy Burnham on 74% each. The other parties in 2015. could pay 13 to vote gave a feeling of extraordinary attendance at campaign Corbyn's campaign polices are appended ownership of the election to a much wider rallies was partly generated by the online to the end of this useful book. What's much layer, which also beneflted the Corbyn campaign, which was continuous, harder to pin down is his new inclusive movement. inventive and very witty, helping create the way of doing politics that cuts through left- Cmcial to victory was the social media sense of a real movement right divisions and signals a real revolution operation that can be traced back to the Lastly there was the candidate himself against the o1d order. The chailenge now establishment of a Red Labour Facebook and his anti-austerity message, driven goes way beyond supportlng the new page in 2011. By 2Ol2 3, a group of younger home by his vote against Tory welfare cuts leader in his battle with the more Labour Representation Committee activists while Labour frontbenchers abstained. His unyielding elements of the parliamentary expanded this into a populist and accessible support for an alternative economic model, parly and apparatus, crucial though that network. Red Labour was centrally involved including public ownership, a National will be. It's about expanding the movement in framing the petition calling for an anti- Investment Bank and tax justice were that helped secure him the leadership into austerity leader following the 2015 election, popular positions, a clear rejection of the one that can put him into Number Ten and which gathered thousands of signatures old leadership's cuts led approach. This start the transformation of the country.

Labour Briefing February ZtJ6 ffi