Jeremy Corbyn - Not Not Labour Party(?), not a Communist (BBC)

Also, I may well be one of the last remaining people who cares about the Lib Dems, but I do wonder whether recent developments will throw them a lifeline. If Labour has moved quite considerably to the left, and if the Tories have drifted to the right, is there now space in the fabled "middle ground", until recently so ridiculously crowded that three parties trying to pitch their tents there were unable to distinguish themselves - at least, not as far as the masses were concerned?

Will be interesting to see if they benefit from this. Or if their own brand is so sullied now that a new party is formed. I guess this wouldn't happen overnight but if the current Labour leadership proves resilient, will the right wing of the Labour party jump ship? The current situation just doesn't look tenable to me.
 
Also, I may well be one of the last remaining people who cares about the Lib Dems, but I do wonder whether recent developments will throw them a lifeline. If Labour has moved quite considerably to the left, and if the Tories have drifted to the right, is there now space in the fabled "middle ground", until recently so ridiculously crowded that three parties trying to pitch their tents there were unable to distinguish themselves - at least, not as far as the masses were concerned?

Will be interesting to see if they benefit from this. Or if their own brand is so sullied now that a new party is formed. I guess this wouldn't happen overnight but if the current Labour leadership proves resilient, will the right wing of the Labour party jump ship? The current situation just doesn't look tenable to me.

The Lib Dems will have to get themselves heard first. I think many have forgotten that they even exist. I do hope they make a comeback though.
 
Also, I may well be one of the last remaining people who cares about the Lib Dems, but I do wonder whether recent developments will throw them a lifeline. If Labour has moved quite considerably to the left, and if the Tories have drifted to the right, is there now space in the fabled "middle ground", until recently so ridiculously crowded that three parties trying to pitch their tents there were unable to distinguish themselves - at least, not as far as the masses were concerned?

Will be interesting to see if they benefit from this. Or if their own brand is so sullied now that a new party is formed. I guess this wouldn't happen overnight but if the current Labour leadership proves resilient, will the right wing of the Labour party jump ship? The current situation just doesn't look tenable to me.
Problem is they picked Farron, whose plan was clearly to go back to the left of Labour. That's not really a tenable plan now, and being slightly less lefty than Labour isn't a great strategy either. I'd expect the Tories to be the main beneficiaries of this misadventure.

Labour won't split again, they'll just wait.
 
This absolute classic from The Times was pointed out on Reddit:

geALbVI.jpg
 
The Lib Dems will have to get themselves heard first. I think many have forgotten that they even exist. I do hope they make a comeback though.
Ive read a few things saying this is a lifeline for them but Im not so sure. If there was a way back for them, I don't think Farron was the man to find it. I can see a new party being formed, unless this Labour thing collapses pretty quickly. We cant have a situation where the Tories are tearing down the welfare state and neither Labour or the Lib Dems have sufficient credibility to do anything about it.
 
This absolute classic from The Times was pointed out on Reddit:

geALbVI.jpg
I just taught my daughter to ride her bike about 2 weeks ago. We were in the park, she was peddling along furiously, and I heard someone comment: "Look at that little girl on her Chairman Mao style bicycle!" I remember thinking, Chairman Mao would never have been able to ride this, its tiny, there is no room for his knees.
 
This absolute classic from The Times was pointed out on Reddit:

geALbVI.jpg

The reporting surrounding Corbyn is just unbelievable and that includes the Guardian as well who clearly have an agenda to push.

I mean the guardian have just posted a picture showing him not singing the anthem and have decided to write an entire article on it. Next it'll be how he took a shit in Westminster and didnt flush.
 
Eh, it's not about personalities.
Angela Merkel seems to be as much fun as watching paint dry. But she comes across as a leader. She's strong, stern & you know she means business before she even says a word. Regardless of whether or not you agree with what she says.

Corbyn? I don't have issue with most of his policies, but he just doesn't carry himself like a leader, there just doesn't seem to be much conviction with him similar story with Ed for me too.
Maybe in time and the longer he's in the public eye that will change.

Appearing strong, stern and capable/determined are personality traits.
 
Eh, it's not about personalities.
Angela Merkel seems to be as much fun as watching paint dry. But she comes across as a leader. She's strong, stern & you know she means business before she even says a word. Regardless of whether or not you agree with what she says.

Corbyn? I don't have issue with most of his policies, but he just doesn't carry himself like a leader, there just doesn't seem to be much conviction with him similar story with Ed for me too.
Maybe in time and the longer he's in the public eye that will change.

First time I've seen him accused of lacking conviction. If there's one politician who is congruent with their words it's him.

Comparing him to shy away Ed is even more bizarre.
 
How exactly would you define presence without having looks play a part?

Presence is more of an aura, how commanding you are without having to say or do anything.
You don't have to look a certain way or have a particular physical feature, it's more to do with how you carry yourself.

Which attributes, and how so?

Well that's subjective, what you look for in a leader may be completely different to what I look for, and even then your definition of those characteristics could vary from person to person.
I personally look for confidence, presence, charisma, ability to inspire & motivate, conviction, communication & control.
And they're important to me because a leader is the figurehead, they are representative of whatever organisation they're in charge of. Some people make for better leaders than others naturally.

Appearing strong, stern and capable/determined are personality traits.

I think there's crossover with personality traits and a person's character, it's not all straightforward.

First time I've seen him accused of lacking conviction. If there's one politician who is congruent with their words it's him.

Comparing him to shy away Ed is even more bizarre.

In terms of leadership qualities not his political beliefs.


You're all taking my assessment of him too harshly.
As a politician I don't really have anything negative to say about him, and like I've said I do agree with a good majority of his beliefs.
As a leader he's just not my cup of tea, but neither are the other parties' leaders either.
 
Presence is more of an aura, how commanding you are without having to say or do anything.
You don't have to look a certain way or have a particular physical feature, it's more to do with how you carry yourself.

An aura? How you carry yourself? So his posture is wrong?
 
Presence is more of an aura, how commanding you are without having to say or do anything.
You don't have to look a certain way or have a particular physical feature, it's more to do with how you carry yourself.

As a leader he's just not my cup of tea, but neither are the other parties' leaders either.
Basically, political leaders aren't enough like Roy Keane for your liking?
 
What it boils down to is that too many people are actually comfortable having well polished, media savvy politicians who are more style than substance. They are comfortable being lead by the sharks and lions that they are used to.
 
Maybe he needs to start riding Merkel-style bicycles instead of the Chairman Mao-style ones he's currently fond of.
 
If that's what you want to take out of what I said, go for it. :)



Lee Kuan Yew, JFK, Obama, Merkel - off the top of my head are political leaders who have great leadership qualities.
Stalin and Hitler had more commanding auras, I'd argue.
 
That's what's great about subjectivity.
If Corbyn is a great leader to you, then more power to you.

The examples you've given are very much in hindsight, I wonder if you would have thought the same when they were at a similar stage to Corbyn (i.e. just elected to leader of the opposition 3 days ago).
 
The examples you've given are very much in hindsight, I wonder if you would have thought the same when they were at a similar stage to Corbyn (i.e. just elected to leader of the opposition 3 days ago).

Lee Kuan Yew & JFK were elected before I was born, so my opinion of them was formed in retrospect, either after death in JFK. Or after a sustained period in power in Lee Kuan Yew.
Obama - during the campaigns captivated right from the offset.
Merkel i'll give you because I didn't know enough about her until she got in power.

I said earlier in the thread that maybe in due time Corbyn will change my mind or something of that nature, so it's not like i'm writing him off, I just simply stated my opinion on him at this present time.
 
What it boils down to is that too many people are actually comfortable having well polished, media savvy politicians who are more style than substance. They are comfortable being lead by the sharks and lions that they are used to.

The problem is that a politician needs to appeal to "many people" in order to get elected. You can't change the electorate and a general election is, literally, a popularity contest. This means the ideal opposition leader should have both style and substance.
 
From what I've seen of Corbyn's speaking style, it has good and bad sides. When he's doing the protest rally style shouting, it's awful. When he goes for the quieter, gentler and more reasoned approach he's far more engaging. Unfortunately his leadership acceptance speech was far more of the former, but I'm hoping he adapts that as he gets more used to his new status. He's also going to need to be less awkward to the media if he wants to get a fair shout. He can rail against them all he wants, they're still the prime method of getting your message across to the wider electorate and acting like a dick isn't going to improve your coverage. Social media largely preaches to the converted.

Is there a possibility this guy may actually get control of the UK economy one day ?

No.
 
Should have suspected that alternative politics would feature homeopathy and auras :/.

Although I suspect Corbyn's opponents in the leadership election were already trying their own brand of political homeopathy by watering down any identity they had to the point that it was practically imperceptible to anyone but the true believers.
 
I think my point is more that whether he is or not isn't going to be down to his aura.

My point about his aura was under a much larger umbrella of leadership characteristics.
I mentioned aura as one attribute (as part of being commanding and having presence) out of about half a dozen attributes that I listed off the top of my head, which in my opinion make up a leader.

I also said, because it's so subjective - if Corbyn is a great leader to you then more power to you.
I'm still entitled to my opinion.