Politics

Bill Shorten Is Getting Roasted After Trying To Jump On UK Labour’s Election Bandwagon

"I can't wait for Bill Shorten to run a Corbyn-style campaign at our next election only to have it fail miserably because he's so uninspiring."

by Tom Clift  10 June 2017

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British Prime Minister Theresa May has absolutely cooked it.

In April, the Conservative Party leader called an early general election in an attempt to capitalise on strong approval ratings and secure a mandate ahead of the Brexit negotiations. It was a calculated gamble that blew up in spectacular fashion. Yesterday’s ballot delivered a hung parliament, with the Tories throwing away their majority in the House of Commons. Rather than solidifying her position, May has been forced to pursue an alliance with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party in order to form government. She’s also facing mounting pressure to resign – pressure she has resisted, at least for now.

The big winner in all of this has of course been Mr. Fishfinger, an actual candidate who against all logic and reason managed to secure 309 votes in the seat of Westmorland & Lonsdale.

But the other big winner was Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. Despite trailing badly in the polls back in April when the election was called, Corbyn turned things around thanks to a grassroots campaign and policies such as free higher education, tax hikes for big income earners, and the renationalisation of key public services.

Admittedly, Corbyn still earned less of the vote than May. Still, the fact that he was able to turn what at one stage shaped up as a landslide defeat into a genuinely close race has been heralded as a major victory for progressives. Socialist poster child Bernie Sanders said he was “delighted” to see Labour do so well. “All over the world, people are rising up against austerity and massive levels of income and wealth inequality,” the US senator wrote on Facebook. “People in the UK, the US and elsewhere want governments that represent all the people, not just the 1%.” 

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Given this, it’s hardly surprising that the leader of the Australian Labor Party has started trying to equate himself with Corbyn. Within hours of the vote, Bill Shorten was describing Corbyn as his “counterpart” and telling reporters that Malcolm Turnbull would be “well advised” to heed Corbyn’s core campaign slogan “for the many, not the few”.

But Australians were quick to point out two key differences between Corbyn and Shorten. The first is that Corbyn and UK Labour put forward a progressive agenda, something that the ALP has consistently struggled to do. The second is that Corbyn is charismatic and likeable, whereas Shorten is still trying to convince people he isn’t made out of cardboard and sticky tape.

Whether Shorten actually starts following Corbyn’s example in any meaningful way remains to be seen. If not, hey, there’s always people’s champion Anthony Albanese?