After months of controversy, bullying and disaster for Labour, the ballot has closed. On Saturday this whole sorry saga will come to an end as the new Leader of the Opposition, and therefore Labour, is announced. With Jeremy going into this election with the support of the vast majority of the membership, he can go into Saturday with a degree of confidence. But Owen Smith, sadly, can too.
Both of them have had mixed campaigns, and clashed with each other on numerous occasions, such as how Corbyn lambasted Smith for his refusal to serve in his shadow cabinet should he win. But the main problem is, this Leadership Election has made us look like a weak, un-unified, aggressive party, and certainly won't help our chances of being elected.
I obviously come across as very Pro-Corbyn and Anti Owen Smith. And that's fine, I don't mind. Because that's how I feel. Smith had the chance to change my mind and didn't. Instead he came across as thoroughly untrustworthy and actually very rude on occasions. I just have a very odd feeling about Smith. I don't like him at all. That's not to say he isn't a good politician, because in order to stand against one of the most popular Labour Leaders in terms of the membership takes guts. He proved above all else that he is a charismatic and gutsy MP. And I respect him for that.
But let's be honest, his whole 2nd EU Referendum idea is quite frankly ridiculous. I can see his reasoning, because yes, there were clear lies that supported the Brexit campaign and the whole referendum was a bit of a farce in terms of the way the sides acted. But to say he wants a 2nd referendum is thoroughly undemocratic and ridiculous. As I have already said in a past article, it is Smith saying "I hate the way you voted you bunch of mugs. Let's go again and get the result that I want!"
Well let me make this clear to you Owen, THE COUNTRY HAS SPOKEN. Yes we were deceived into voting for Brexit but we did it, and now we cope with the consequences. This ridiculous policy would destroy Labour once and for all if he is elected as Labour Leader on Saturday. Tim Farron, Lib Dems Leader has already faces vast criticism for the same policy he's adopted, so why should we make ourselves look like fools by taking it ourselves.
But back onto the point, I'm overly glad that this whole petty campaign is over. I can honestly say it has changed my view of the party. And it's funny, because I, as a Corbyn supporter, have been called deluded and stupid for my support of him, ironically by Owen Smith fans on the Labour Party Forum. So I do not want to hear anymore nonsense about it just being us Corbynites that are the bullies because, to be quite honest, that's crap.
So how do we move on from this? If Corbyn wins then we do of course (allegedly) face a split. MP's such as Angela Eagle and Chucka Umuna have been linked to the Lib Dems recently, and I say let them have them. They have been instrumental parts of the coup, so why on earth would we want them in the party? If they agree to serve Jeremy then fine, let them stay, because they are strong MP's in all fairness. But if they refuse to serve a two time democratically elected leader, then get rid of them. I doubt many members would miss them.
In terms of an unlikely Owen Smith victory, I believe that at least 40% of the membership will be gone. Maybe even more. We currently have over 600,000 members, and that makes us the biggest political party in Europe in terms of membership. But that could all change, because a lot of the members joined because of Corbyn. Many members would of course be banned, because as Owen Smith said, Momentum members should be banned (links at the bottom of the article). Because of course, that is great unity from the unity candidate. He faces tearing apart the membership only to help maintain the PLP. Tom Watson talked about the PLP being 'the heart of the party'. I disagree. The membership is the heart of the party in my opinion. The PLP is primarily just full of people rebelling against the leader. So of course they are more important than the membership...
But anyway, in all honesty I wish both candidates all the best for 11:45 am (I believe) on Saturday. Whatever happens, whoever wins, they have a tough challenge ahead of them to rebuild the party. I sincerely hope Corbyn wins, but well done to Smith for a hard fought campaign, even if it was full of lies and deceit in my opinion.
Links to Owen Smith talking about banning Momentum and Pro Corbyn members:
http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2016/09/16/owen-smith-momentum-members-could-be-banned-by-labour-party
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/owen-smith-says-labour-should-8849208