Britain | Bagehot

Jeremy Corbyn is increasingly isolated in his own party

The leader of the Labour Party is in his weakest position yet

H.L. MENCKEN is said to have defined a politician as “an animal that can sit on the fence and yet keep both ears on the ground”. By that definition Jeremy Corbyn is failing in his vocation. The European elections bulldozed Mr Corbyn’s fence by giving the Labour Party just 14% of the vote in the country as a whole and 9% in its former stronghold of Scotland. They unleashed a furious debate that was ostensibly about the party’s stance on Europe in particular but also about Mr Corbyn’s leadership in general.

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Enemies within”

Next to blow: Britain’s constitution

From the June 1st 2019 edition

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