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How will Corbynism be remembered? The more sympathetic historians to come -of which there will be many- will point to the revival of a mass party membership, the 'myth' of the 2017 general election & the 'unique' barrier to the promised land that was imposed by Brexit 1/3
Realists on the other hand will present Corbynism as a case study in failure. A comfort blanket for an activist base that had become disconnected from public opinion & culture. Like Michael Foot & George McGovern a theory that inspired true believers but alienated the mass public
But perhaps the failure of Corbynism speaks far more to culture than politics. It serves as a reminder that -deep down- the British are deeply sceptical of radicals, ideology & 'isms'. There have been brief exceptions but pragmatism has long reigned supreme over ideology
It was once said that the Brits, but especially the English, "long approached any promised panacea in a spirit not of enthusiasm but profound scepticism". Ideologues like Corbyn & McDonnell always looked like imports, cut adrift from a culture that rejected radicalism elsewhere
Blair's Whatever Works, Cameron's Big Society, Leave's Take Back Control, Johnson's Get Brexit Done...the most memorable recent creations in British politics riff not on ideological radicalism but pragmatism. A reminder that deep down this is instinctively a conservative nation
