There are several false dichotomies, and other leaps, in there. It doesn't have to be "Corbyn or centrists". The Labour party is free to offer any narrative it wants to, and another leader could, er, lead that. Not being a Corbyn supporter doesn't mean you "should" join any other given political party. And if you mean the Observer's Nick Cohen by "self proclaimed leftists (I'm certainly not one), then the reason he doesn't want Corbyn as PM is not that "he's unelectable for believing in left wing ideas", his list of reasons are in the clip I linked to.secret squirrel wrote: ↑Tue Dec 03, 2019 1:23 pmBlairism was sh.t though. No real attempt to avert the unfolding disaster that is 21st century capitalism. Getting involved in horrific wars for the benefit of American arms manufacturers despite them being massively unpopular. Somewhat better social programs then the alternatives, but no significant change in course for the country. It's one thing to be a centrist because you don't think the voters will go for anything better, but it's another thing to be one of the voters dragging things to the right. Britain is economically unusually right wing. Not because of something deep in the national character, but because of decisions people made in the 80s and later. Anyone who doesn't want to unwind those changes is not on the left, and should, quite frankly, just join the Lib Dems or the Tories. If leftist ideas are unelectable in the UK then so be it, but it would be nice if Corbyn could run on the left without other self-proclaimed leftists complaining he's unelectable for believing in left wing ideas. It would be nice if the Labour party were able to offer an alternative to the essentially neoliberal economic narrative that has, despite being shown to be b.llsh.t over and over again, dominated the last 40 or so years.
It's much more of a Corbyn thing than a Labour thing, and that's what so many lefties seem to avoid. The left's response seems to be to circle the wagons around him every time, and call everybody else a tory, and it's not helping Labour to help the people it wants to.
If Labour does lose again, he very probably is going to have to go, and soon, whatever McCluskey wants. A poll of Labour members (YouGov, link below) earlier this year had ratings of Corbyn "doing a good job" down to 56%. Only about the same wanted him to lead them into this election. Can't see another loss helping that. If we assume Labour has ~500k members (they don't, probably but close enough for this), then the 56% was a majority of about 30,000, ish. More than are reported to have left the party recently. Assuming these weren't Corbynistas, by and large, this kind of trend will help preserve a majority for him, for a while, but there are obvious problems down the line. The party has to keep its members engaged and energised, and there is a limit to support for Corbyn, even there.
What then for promoting a national shift leftward? McDonnell could have the brains and guile to pull it off, but will share some of Corbyn's historical baggage (cf. Cohen, above). And they will probably be under some pressure to elect a woman, at long last. According to members (YouGov) earlier this year, Starmer would be favourite at (but has testicles), with Thornberry top female contender. She has her white van problem, of course. Long-Bailey was way behind, but Momentum will probably back her, if she stands, as she is Unite sponsored. I wish they'd give it to Jess Phillips, but that's not going to happen