KO

I’ve known Jeremy for twenty-five years, and he’s always been at his best when he’s outside of what we call the Westminster bubble — the equivalent would be outside of the Beltway — talking with people, campaigning. Some politicians have to pretend to listen and some of them can be very good at it.

I remember Bill Clinton was a fantastic actor. Jeremy doesn’t have to pretend to do that. When he’s with people, his genuineness completely comes through.

So what’s happened in the course of the election is actually quite interesting. When an election is called, the MPs are out of parliament, but the rules of the Labour Party state that power devolves to the election team around the leadership.

All of that nastiness from last year, the noises off from other MPs to get rid of him — that was pushed to one side by the rules of the Labour Party, which concentrated decision making in the hands of the leadership for the duration of the campaign.

Jeremy, Diane Abbott, John McDonnell, Angela Rayner, Emily Thornberry, a number of people of the Left who are from the core of the leadership, could be much less impeded by noises from right-wing or Blairite MPs who’ve been back with their constituencies having to fight for their vote.

One, he’s been able to put forward a very good manifesto with some radical social democratic measures. Two, they’ve been able to conduct a campaign which both plays to his strengths, but also is the right campaign to conduct — one of mass rallies, one of getting out to speak to people rather than funneling it through a very controlled and biased media.

Three, he’s turned upside down the Tory election strategy. It was to rely upon the constant denigration by the establishment and the media, and sections of the Labour Party of Jeremy Corbyn, and to say, “Look, this guy is useless. You’ve read it all in the papers. He’s going nowhere,” and it’s him versus the strong, imperial Theresa May.

People have seen more and more of Jeremy Corbyn and of the policies, and of the style of campaigning. They are really liking it, and the more they see of Theresa May — or rather the more they feel that she’s not prepared to be seen and to answer questions — the more they don’t like it.

So you have a crisis in the Tory campaign. I’m not saying that they will lose, necessarily. They still are ahead, but there’s a crisis in the campaign.

They had run the campaign to be “Back Theresa May,” as if it was a US presidential campaign, not a British parliamentary campaign for hundreds of MPs.

It was “Back Theresa May,” and now Theresa May’s name is getting smaller, and smaller, and smaller on the propaganda that’s going out. This is a very difficult situation for them.