Britain’s Labour Party and its far-left leader, Jeremy Corbyn, suffered a historic defeat in yesterday’s general election. Although there are massive differences between Corbyn’s brand of socialism and our own Democratic Party, left-leaning liberals such as Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders would be wise to pay attention.
Corbyn has spent much of the past four years as the party leader pushing Labour further and further to the left, advocating for the “un-privatization” of municipal energy companies and railways, among other things. Corbyn wanted nothing short of a complete economic transformation. He even referred to his own platform as “radical.” And his party’s unexpected albeit modest gains in the 2017 British election suggested that he might just achieve it.
But Corbyn’s victory was short-lived. Labour lost seat after seat in traditional left-leaning strongholds, some of which hadn’t returned Conservative members of parliament for decades, if ever. As my colleague Tom Rogan noted, it would be like a Republican winning Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco district.
Before the sun was up, Corbyn had announced he would step down from the Labour Party leadership. He urged its members to use Thursday’s defeat as an opportunity for “reflection.” Labour will undoubtedly reevaluate its positions moving forward, (though it didn’t hesitate to condemn Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s vow to pursue Brexit).
U.S. liberals might want to rethink their positioning as well. Like Corbyn, Warren, and Sanders have built their presidential campaigns on bold promises of radical change: heavy taxes on the rich, extensive government-subsidized programs, such as “Medicare for all,” and a sweeping crackdown on private corporations.
Yes, U.S. leftism is much closer to the center of Britain’s political spectrum. Still, Corbyn’s defeat is a reminder that moving too far to the left can be dangerous for any party. Already, Sanders and Warren’s race to the left has concerned some in the Democratic Party who worry that their focus on liberal voters will isolate precisely the moderate blue-collar workers they need to win back from President Trump in 2020.
Of course, Labour’s loss could have as much to do with Corbyn’s leadership as with its leftward lurch. He’s undoubtedly an anti-Semite (some in his party were quick to blame Labour’s loss on the “Jewish vote”), and he doesn’t care who knows it.
And let’s not forget the defining issue of the moment, Brexit. The Democratic Party faces no analogous issue.
Democrats’ problems look quite manageable in comparison to Corbyn’s. But Labour’s big loss has given moderate Democrats, such as former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, one more reason to argue that their colleagues’ policies could backfire next year.
If Warren and Sanders don’t listen, they could be seen as the next Jeremy Corbyn: the man who led his party to annihilation and granted the Conservative Party its second consecutive decade in power.
