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BBC Question Time: Jeremy Corbyn's Leadership Mandate Gets Passionately Defended

Blair didn't get quite the same treatment.
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By 

Politics Reporter, HuffPost UK

Jeremy Corbyn's position as Labour leader has been passionately defended as he faced a night of "painful" local election results.

A Question Time audience member laid into Tony Blair's record of winning elections, saying that despite Corbyn performing well enough last night to rebut his critics, he should remain leader at the behest of Labour members - not MPs. 

She tackled a fellow viewer, saying: "I cannot believe that you are defending the Tony Blair government that took us to war in Iraq. How can you ignore that?

"Jeremy Corbyn has the biggest mandate of any leader who's ever been elected.

"This is a democratic process - it's not up to Labour MPs to decide who is leader of the Labour Party."

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Polling Day Voters
(01 of17)
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Zac Goldsmith, the Conservative Party candidate for London mayor, exit a polling station after voting in the Mayor of London and London Assembly elections in his constituency of Richmond Park & North Kingston in London, U.K., on Thursday, May 5, 2016. Britain goes to the polls Thursday in a series of local and legislative elections that will deliver a new mayor for London, continued nationalist government in Scotland and the voters' first verdict on Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the opposition Labour Party. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images (credit:Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(02 of17)
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Britain's Conservative party candidate for London Mayor Zac Goldsmith (R) and his wife Alice arrive at a Polling Station in south-west London on May 5, 2016, to cast their votes.Londoners go to the polls on Thursday to elect their new mayor following a bitter campaign between the two leading candidates, Goldsmith, and Labour's Sadiq Khan, that stayed ugly to the very end. / AFP / BEN STANSALL (Photo credit should read BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:BEN STANSALL via Getty Images)
(03 of17)
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LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 05: Conservative Mayoral candidate, Zac Goldsmith, leaves a polling station with his wife Alice Miranda Goldsmith at Kitson Hall, Barnes after casting his vote on May 5, 2016 in London, England. This is the fifth mayoral election since the position was created in 2000. Previous London Mayors are Ken Livingstone for Labour and more recently Boris Johnson for the Conservatives. The main candidates for 2016 are Sadiq Khan, Labour, Zac Goldsmith , Conservative, Sian Berry, Green, Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat, George Galloway, Respect, Peter Whittle, UKIP and Sophie Walker, Woman's Equality Party. Results will be declared on Friday 6th May. (Photo by Chris Ratcliffe/Getty Images) (credit:Chris Ratcliffe via Getty Images)
(04 of17)
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Britain's Labour party candidate for London Mayor Sadiq Khan leaves a Polling Station in south London on May 5, 2016, after casting his vote.Londoners go to the polls on Thursday to elect their new mayor following a bitter campaign between the two leading candidates Khan, and Conservative Zac Goldsmith, that stayed ugly to the very end. / AFP / JUSTIN TALLIS (Photo credit should read JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:JUSTIN TALLIS via Getty Images)
(05 of17)
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Britain's Labour party candidate for London Mayor Sadiq Khan (R) and his wife Saadiya pose for photographers as they leave a Polling Station in south London on May 5, 2016, after casting their votes.Londoners go to the polls on Thursday to elect their new mayor following a bitter campaign between the two leading candidates Khan, and Conservative Zac Goldsmith, that stayed ugly to the very end. / AFP / JUSTIN TALLIS (Photo credit should read JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:JUSTIN TALLIS via Getty Images)
(06 of17)
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LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - MAY 5: Britain's Labour Candidate for Mayor of London Sadiq Kahn (R) arrives with his wife Saadiya to vote at a polling station in south London, United Kingdom on May 5, 2016. (Photo by NEIL HALL/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
(07 of17)
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Britain's Labour party candidate for London Mayor Sadiq Khan (R) and his wife Saadiya pose for photographers as they leave a Polling Station in south London on May 5, 2016, after casting their votes.Londoners go to the polls on Thursday to elect their new mayor following a bitter campaign between the two leading candidates Khan, and Conservative Zac Goldsmith, that stayed ugly to the very end. / AFP / JUSTIN TALLIS (Photo credit should read JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:JUSTIN TALLIS via Getty Images)
(08 of17)
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Britain's Conservative party candidate for London Mayor Zac Goldsmith leaves a Polling Station in south-west London on May 5, 2016, after casting his vote.Londoners go to the polls on Thursday to elect their new mayor following a bitter campaign between the two leading candidates, Goldsmith, and Labour's Sadiq Khan, that stayed ugly to the very end. / AFP / BEN STANSALL (Photo credit should read BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:BEN STANSALL via Getty Images)
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EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - MAY 05: Scottish Labour Leader Kezia Dugdale (R) and her partner Louise Riddell arrive at St Ninian & Triduana RC Church to vote in the Scottish Parliament elections on May 5, 2016 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Today, dubbed 'Super Thursday', sees the British public vote in countrywide elections to choose members for the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, the Northern Ireland Assembly, Local Councils, a new London Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioners. There are around 45 million registered voters in the UK and polling stations open from 7am until 10pm. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images) (credit:Matt Cardy via Getty Images)
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EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - MAY 05: Scottish Labour Leader Kezia Dugdale and her partner Louise Riddell arrive at St Ninian & Triduana RC Church to vote in the Scottish Parliament elections on May 5, 2016 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Today, dubbed 'Super Thursday', sees the British public vote in countrywide elections to choose members for the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, the Northern Ireland Assembly, Local Councils, a new London Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioners. There are around 45 million registered voters in the UK and polling stations open from 7am until 10pm. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images) (credit:Matt Cardy via Getty Images)
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Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn arrives to cast his vote at a polling station in Islington, north London. (credit:Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
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Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn arrives to cast his vote at a polling station in Islington, north London. (credit:Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
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SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon after casting her vote at Broomhouse Community Hall polling station in Glasgow as Scotland goes to the polls in the Scottish Parliament election. (credit:Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
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LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 05: George Osborne casts his vote in the London Mayoral Election on May 05, 2016 in London, England. This is the fifth mayoral election since the position was created in 2000. Previous London Mayors are Ken Livingstone for Labour and more recently Boris Johnson for the Conservatives. The main candidates for 2016 are Sadiq Khan, Labour, Zac Goldsmith , Conservative, Sian Berry, Green, Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat, George Galloway, Respect, Peter Whittle, UKIP and Sophie Walker, Woman's Equality Party. Results will be declared on Friday 6th May. (Photo by Neil P. Mockford/Getty Images) (credit:Neil P. Mockford via Getty Images)
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LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 05: George Osborne casts his vote in the London Mayoral Election on May 05, 2016 in London, England. This is the fifth mayoral election since the position was created in 2000. Previous London Mayors are Ken Livingstone for Labour and more recently Boris Johnson for the Conservatives. The main candidates for 2016 are Sadiq Khan, Labour, Zac Goldsmith , Conservative, Sian Berry, Green, Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat, George Galloway, Respect, Peter Whittle, UKIP and Sophie Walker, Woman's Equality Party. Results will be declared on Friday 6th May. (Photo by Neil P. Mockford/Getty Images) (credit:Neil P. Mockford via Getty Images)
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SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon after casting her vote at Broomhouse Community Hall polling station in Glasgow as Scotland goes to the polls in the Scottish Parliament election. (credit:Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
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LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 05: David Cameron and Samantha Cameron arrive to cast their votes in the London Mayoral Election on May 05, 2016 in London, England. This is the fifth mayoral election since the position was created in 2000. Previous London Mayors are Ken Livingstone for Labour and more recently Boris Johnson for the Conservatives. The main candidates for 2016 are Sadiq Khan, Labour, Zac Goldsmith , Conservative, Sian Berry, Green, Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat, George Galloway, Respect, Peter Whittle, UKIP and Sophie Walker, Woman's Equality Party. Results will be declared on Friday 6th May. (Photo by Neil P. Mockford/Getty Images) (credit:Neil P. Mockford via Getty Images)

She was defending Corbyn as it emerged Labour had lost council seats - despite a pre-election prediction by the party leader to the contrary. 

"We are not going to lose seats, we are looking to gain seats where we can," Corbyn said on Tuesday.

His spokesman later claimed the quote had been "misinterpreted", insisting he had meant to say the party was "not in the business of losing seats".

Speaking as results from Thursday's election were revealed, Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale acknowledged her party had not had a good night.

“There’s no doubt that our defeat for the Labour party is painful, but it is not the end of our campaign," she said. 

"We will continue to argue for Labour values, Labour ideas and Labour principles. Our work to renew the Scottish Labour party so that it is fit to serve the people of Scotland, continues."

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