Politics: CORBYN’S SHADOW

by Paul Waugh | Politics Updates

* Paul Waugh

The momentum of the Jeremy Corbyn campaign caused a bit of buyer’s remorse yesterday as some of those MPs who put him on the ballot paper anonymously expressed their regrets. Among CLP nominations, he’s topping the league with 60 (to Burnham’s 58), he has hundreds of local Councillors now behind him too.

The most interesting exchange in the Sunday Politics debate came over whether any of his rivals would offer Corbyn a job in their Shadow Cabinet. Andy Burnham, said: “maybe not shadow chancellor, on the back of what he’s just said, but I might be open to listening”. Liz Kendall pounced to ask: “Would you really have Jeremy in your shadow cabinet?”

To which Burnham replied: “I think he’s said things in this contest that are important and people have responded to, clearly. So I think the Labour Party’s got to come back together after this leadership contest.” That sounded like he’d left the door ajar. But his aides later insisted: “It was clearly a joke. There will not be any kind of scenario in which Corbyn would be on his front bench.” 

But of all the candidates, the one who has benefited most from the Stormin’ Corbyn narrative has been Liz Kendall (a fact not unrelated to the leaked private polls, some mutter), as she’s been most clearly able to say she’s very different and not in any way wooing him or his supporters. 

Kendall yesterday dismissed claims that Corbyn was ahead on Twitter (‘you think the only world is Twitter?’ she asked on Pienaar’s Politics). As for those mysterious phone bank data all the camps guard jealously, she said: “I'm not doing badly in the race...My experience of phone banks...I'm doing strong, I'm doing well.” Kendall has a big speech today on localism and is buoyed by the endorsement yesterday of Alistair Darling. 

In the Guardian today, Matt D’Ancona argues that these days "authenticity trumps experience, and charisma dwarfs argument". Is he right? 

There’s another question too: will any of the wounds opened in this leadership race easily heal? Not if the last one is anything to go by. David Miliband held his 50th birthday party this weekend..while brother Ed watched England get thrashed at Lords.

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* Paul Waugh, is the Executive Editor, Politics, HuffPost UK.