"Hijacked"

In the wake of their election loss, UK Labour is having the usual post-election leadership competition, with the usual parade of Blairites competing to be king (or queen) of a dying party. But one of the contenders isn't a Blairite. Jeremy Corbyn is instead pushing for Uk Labour to return to its roots as a left party rather than being Thatcher-wannabes. He even uses the "s"-word! Socialism! In a Labour party! Worse, this is capturing the imaginations of the party's membership, who get a vote now. But the Blairites have a solution: a post-election leadership coup:

Labour MPs are plotting to mount a coup against Jeremy Corbyn before Christmas, if he wins the leadership in September.

The left-wing MP for Islington North has staged a stunning raid on support among constituency labour party (CLP) organisations in the past week, prompting panic among supporters of the three mainstream candidates, Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall. Two internal polls also suggested a surge in support for Mr Corbyn, with one even suggesting he could win on 12 September.

Although this result is still seen as a long shot, MPs said in the event of a Corbyn victory they would immediately start gathering the 47 names needed to trigger a coup. One said: “We cannot just allow our party, a credible party of government, to be hijacked in this summer of madness. There would be no problem in getting names. We could do this before Christmas.”

"Hijacked". I can't think of a worse word to describe a democratic decision of a party's membership. But it is deeply illuminating about the mindset of Blairites, and the modern political class as a whole (and sadly, we have more than a few such people here in New Zealand). These people don't see politics as involving voters, and the only role they have for party members is as a disposable source of free labour come election time. Which makes you wonder who the fuck they think they're representing - because it sure as hell isn't their members.