Labour fights for post-Brexit future in crunch UK by-election

[brooklynite]

Source: Euractiv

Britain’s ailing Labour party was battling on Thursday (23 February) to avoid defeat in two parliamentary by-elections, fighting off UKIP in one Brexit bastion and fearing a historic loss to the governing Conservatives in the other.

The votes in Stoke-on-Trent and Copeland are a test of whether Labour can hold its once core support among working-class voters in the north of England following Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.

Most Labour voters supported Brexit while most of their MPs wanted to stay in the EU, a gap that the party is still struggling to bridge as Prime Minister Theresa May prepares to start the withdrawal process within weeks.

Under leftist leader Jeremy Corbyn, the party is deeply divided and languishing in the polls, with the latest one showing they are 18 points behind May’s Conservatives.

Read more: http://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/labour-fights-for-post-brexit-future-in-crunch-uk-by-election/

[hrmjustin]

1. If they lose these by-elections the party needs to rethink their leadership.

[Blue Idaho]

2. The Labour MPs seem to be living on another planet

Than their supporters. They tried to get rid of Corbyn in a party election by restricting the vote of new Labour Party members or charging them a fee to vote. Luckily Unity - one of the large national unions - offered Labour Party members effected a chance to vote under their umbrella. In the end the voter suppression effort crumbled and the challenge to Corbyn fell apart.

There is a real war at the top of Labor - MPs are clashing with Corbyn and the party is suffering. It's a shame because the Conservative party is really damaging the country.

[brooklynite]

3. To clarify: they didn't "charge them a fee to vote"

The Labour Party, as with many European political parties charges dues to become a member, for which voting on Leadership is an opportunity:

How much is it and where does my money go?

We’ve got a wide range of rates so you might pay as little as £3 a year. Our standard rate starts at £4 a month and you can choose to pay more if you wish, as many of our members do.

http://www.labour.org.uk/pages/questions-about-membership

[Blue Idaho]

4. My understanding is some long time Labour members

talked about ways to restrict pro-Corbyn voters:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/15/john-mcdonnell-voting-restrictions-labour-leadership-contest-jeremy-corbyn

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2016/07/labours-new-election-rules-are-no-match-jeremy-corbyn-voters