Let’s be honest with each other first of all, until recently nobody outside the geeky clique of Labour activists and diehards knew who Jeremy Corbyn is (including me, which as a politics student should be embarrassing to admit). I also want to make it absolutely clear that I will be doing my upmost to make sure my posts do not support certain parties over others.

Who is Jeremy Corbyn?

 

In order to understand things later, I’ll make it easier now by just whizzing through some key details about who Jeremy is and why he is so significant.

He became Member of Parliament in 1983 for Islington North, but has never managed to become an important figure in the Labour Party due to being a rebel. You have to understand that parties in Parliament place a lot of pressure on their MP’s to vote however way the party has chosen, and if they don’t then the chance for promotion is virtually none. MP’s are forced to choose between what they believe in, and following party orders. Jeremy Corbyn voted against Labour 533 times, including things like voting against going to war in Iraq.

(Old) Labour vs. New Labour

 

Labour traditionally has been a party that is left leaning. When I say this I don’t mean they’re tower of Pisa enthusiasts, left leaning means they want to involve the government more in aspects of life and actually run things rather than leave it to private businesses and bosses.

In theory a typical Labour government would be running train companies, energy providers like British gas, and the Post Office. Of course the money from this would come from taxes, with the ultimate idea that government needs to take money from the rich and give to the less well off (wealth redistribution).

A lot of you know who this man above is. Tony Blair threw out the rulebook that we mentioned above and decided that it would be beneficial to create something called New Labour. New Labour hated government control, and so decided to start doing things like sell off parts of companies that the government owned. This is how we’ve ended up with an NHS that literally pays private companies to do its laundry for them (lazy eh!).

New Labour sounds to me, a lot like the Conservatives, does it to you too? Or should we say “The Conservative LITE edition”. Policies between the two parties since New Labour was formed have been different; I mean they can’t exactly just copy each other can they. But the key point is that, to the average citizen, there is ABSOLUTELY NO difference; THIS is why you have been complaining. Now lets go back to the present day.

The year is 2015, and Jeremy Corbyn (who we earlier summed up as completely against the Tories (Conservatives) is elected leader.

Please hurry up and finish, I want to know where you’re going with this Granit

 

I am not trying to say that Jeremy Corbyn is all great and smells of a flowery heaven (I don’t know what perfume he uses, maybe Paco Rabanne?). One of the main arguments put forward by the average person (especially those that didn’t vote at all) is that “they are all the same”.

I completely would have agreed with you a few years ago, but I apologise in disagreeing now. For the first time in decades what we have is unique; a genuine rivalry and different beliefs fighting to be chosen by the people. You may already have a deep desire or fetish for a certain party and that is fine, but 34% of people didn’t vote in the general election, and those are the ones who need to. Obviously the outcome in 2020 matters, but what’s important is that now the excuse of ‘politicians being the same’ cannot be used, they’re not this time. Trust me.

People finally have a clear choice; they need to decide what sort of Britain they want. Democracy relies on debate and a range of opinions, I just hope to see a much bigger turnout in 2020, and a lot less excuses from people vocal enough to complain, but too lazy to stop watching Bargain Hunt and go to the voting station.