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I don't know if you were around in the early -80's?
http://lightrefrain.net/historicalvoting/
Labour was significantly ahed in the polls,
Thatcher & Howe had seemingly for no reason raised VAT from 8 to 15%,
and it was the post-Falklands war fever,
and those splitters of the SDP that gave the Tories a majority,
despite their votes falling by 700,000.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_general_election,_1983Can't rule out itchy trigger fingered Callmedave starting another war,
nor, the Continuity Blairties splitting.
Wouldn't all those 'shy Tories' like their back-at-home kids to be able to afford to rent or buy an affordable house? -
Ok, lets do basic politics
To change things you need a working majority in the House of Commons
You ignored my post as this is exactly the problem I noted. And none of the other candidates appeared to be any more likely of commanding a majority. That is, the problem with Labour gaining a majority is one that is larger than Corbyn being unelectable. Which leads to a second point: what is your evidence he is unelectable? Foot. An election over 30 years ago does not make scientific fact.
It is generally true that getting votes is easier from the centre than from further left or right. This is not rocket science. The problem is that Labour positioning itself as a centrist party post-Blair seems to have done two things: 1) failed to attract votes from the Tories (why? One reason is the claim that those voters seem to see Labour as incompetent on the economy), 2) shed votes from the left.
To preempt a point: It is true that Labour's percentage of vote went up in the most recent election, but this was fairly marginal and could have easily come from one-off Liberal Democrat voters returning to Labour. That pool of votes is not inexhaustible. On the other hand, the Greens and SNP gained many, many, more votes. Those votes will have come from the LibDems and Labour (when not new voters).
If your position is that any of the other leaders could have won the next election, you need to show your work. It's a huge ask for any Labour leader to win back Scotland and increase votes in England to overcome the votes that will be lost in the new constituencies.
But instead your position is that Michael Foot lost an election in 1983 and therefore Corbyn will do the same. You're right; that is basic politics.
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mespilus
@Peter_Carter
Ok, lets do basic politics
To change things you need a working majority in the House of Commons
That means, under the current rules, you need to win about 100 seats . Most of these are in England and are places like Harlow, Nuneaton, Darwen, Southampton & Ipswich.
That means Labour has to appeal to the voters in these marginal constituencies and gain their votes. The last time this was tried with a Corbyn platform(83) Labour lost massively
Nothing has changed in the rules since then...
So if you want to make Labour a debating society then go ahead. I ve been there and done that..