So Corbyn has done it. After a year of bullying and vile comments centered towards him, he has won the Leadership Election with a 61.8% share of the vote, which means his mandate has increased from 59.5%.
As a furious looking Owen Smith sat motionless on his seat, Corbyn delivered an inspirational unity speech to the audience. Jeremy looked delighted, as did his supporters. For he has survived this ridiculous attempt to get rid of him by proving he is the best man for the job once again. Will the PLP get behind him? Maybe. Will we see a few resignations from begrudged MP's? Possibly. But will Labour now become an effective opposition? Definitely. 2020 can't come soon enough, because now we will have the chance to really show the people of Britain that Labour can govern over the country.
It's amusing to me how some MP's who tried to force him out, and those who infamously resigned from the Shadow Cabinet, are now 'open to a chat' with Jeremy in regards to taking up front bench roles again. Whether they should be allowed back is of course down to Jeremy. Personally I'd get rid so we can get real, honest, genuine Labour MP's who support the party values and indeed the leader. However Jeremy is a far better person than me and he knows exactly what he needs to do. Unity is of course what the party needs, and personal feelings aside, maybe they should be allowed to be back in key positions so that the party can come across as strong and unified.
In terms of Owen Smith, not one bit of me feels sorry for him. He has not been that nice during the campaign, and at times he made some low blows on Corbyn. He will now go back to the backbenches and will remain anonymous mostly due to his arrogance and refusal to serve in the Shadow Cabinet. At least some of the rebellious MP's are offering some support for Jeremy and offering to serve in his shadow cabinet again. But Owen does not want to serve his party in a key position, instead deciding to serve as an MP with no real power in the House of Commons. That's against his view of Unity in my opinion.
That word Unity has been used a lot so far in this blog, and rightly so because Labour needs to get every single one of the MP's in the PLP behind Jeremy Corbyn. While this may be tough for them, they represent the party, and must represent the views of the 61.8% of voters who got behind Jeremy and voted for him.
In conclusion, I am delighted with the result. It's genuinely proved Jeremy is the right man for the job. Bring on 2020!