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Labour in 2017

Many observers thought an early general election would likely see Labour wiped out in the heartlands of northern England by the nativist UK Independence Party (UKIP).

Tens of thousands of new members had flocked to Labour since was first Corbyn was elected, many of them young and enthusiastic. Corbyn draws big crowds to rallies and meetings, and his supporters were a formidable force on social media. His followers - dubbed Corbynistas - see Labour as a mass movement for social justice, similar to Spain's Podemos, rather than simply a machine for winning elections. Other Labour members, and most of the party's lawmakers, want power and think Labour can't win it while Corbyn was in charge. They argue that his policies - including re-nationalization of the railways and unilateral nuclear disarmament - don't speak to ordinary voters.

By late 2017 moderate Labour councillors were being written off as "zombie Blairites" as Jeremy Corbyn's left-wing supporters carried out an "aggressive purge" of party moderates. Councillors across the UK faced deselection in favor of candidates more closely aligned to the Momentum movement, laying bare party divisions ahead of 2018 local elections.

Corbyn then presented the most radical and socialist manifesto in Labour’s post-war history to the electorate in the snap General Election called by Theresa May in 2017. The powerful and the privileged were in a state of fear and alarm at the prospect of a Corbyn led government introducing legislation that will actually compel the millionaires and billionaires to pay higher taxes.

Corbyn’s socialist manifesto in 2017 proved that radical ideas of wealth redistribution, re-nationalisation of public assets like gas, electricity, water and railways and forcing big business and millionaires to pay more taxes were actually very popular policies. After nearly a decade of austerity cuts for the millions but tax cuts for the millionaires, many people wanted to see fairness and justice, not more of the same old Tory policies designed to serve the wealthy and powerful. In England and Wales, the increase in the Labour share of the vote was the biggest since 1945.

For years Corbyn had been attacked as being anti-British, anti-monarchy, anti-business and anti-Semitic. Labour battled accusations of anti-Semitism for over two years. Accusations of hostility toward Jews had riven Labour since left-winger Jeremy Corbyn, a longtime supporter of the Palestinians, became party leader in 2015. In 2009, Corbyn called Hezbollah and Hamas his friends, adding that the Hamas is “an organization that is dedicated towards the good of the Palestinian people and bringing about peace and social justice.”

Nine lawmakers quit the party, citing the leadership's handling of anti-Semitism in the ranks as well as its Brexit stance as their reason for leaving. Corbyn's opponents say criticism of Israel by some Labour members — especially those who joined after Corbyn took the helm — had strayed over the line into anti-Semitism and claim the party has not taken the issue seriously.

Labour Party was in turmoil after a television documentary renewed allegations 10 July 2019 that anti-Semitism is rife within its ranks. In the Panorama program on BBC, former staff members of the party recounted receiving anti-Semitic abuse and alleged that senior party officials interfered in complaint investigations.

The reputation of the Labour Party “has been shredded by a Hard Left establishment that has proven apparently incapable of addressing the endemic racism within. Their reign must be quickly and efficiently ended,” Labour Against Anti-Semitism, an internal party group, wrote in a statement following the airing of the show.

Labour deputy leader Tom Watson said anti-Semitism was “a sickness in our party” that had to be dealt with. Watson told the BBC there was a feeling “that there's almost a permissive culture that people can use anti-Jewish, racist language both in our meetings and to each other on social media. And we've failed to address that properly.” The Equality and Human Rights Commission began a probe of Labour in early 2019.

According to quantitative research, the 500,000 strong membership of the Labour Party are less likely to be anti-Semitic than members of the Tory Party or the general public and anti-Semitic views have actually reduced substantially within the Labour Party since Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader in 2015. Less than 1% of Labour Party members are subject to anti-Semitism complaints.