Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he welcomes the challenges of the upcoming by-elections and sees it as a chance to challenge the government.
Last Friday, Tristram Hunt joined Jamie Reed and resigned from Labour. Both MPs were part of the failed coup to oust him as leader and both were parachuted in MPs from the Blair – Mandelson era. Reed has left politics for a high paying corporate job in the nuclear industry, while Hunt has left to head up the Victoria and Albert museum in London.
Tristram Hunt had received a no confidence vote by the CLP in his constituency.
More Labour MPs may decide to take lucrative private sector jobs and step down.
Opportunity to Challenge Government
Speaking on the Andrew Marr show, Jeremy Corbyn said, “It’s an opportunity to challenge the government on the NHS. It’s an opportunity to challenge the government on the chaos of Brexit. It’s an opportunity to challenge the government on the housing shortage.
“I look in the mirror every day, and I think, let’s get out there and try and create a society where there are opportunities for all.”
In the opinion polls Labour is not making gains on the Conservatives. That said, recent polls have found to be completely wrong when it came to the crunch. Brexit and the U.S election being good examples.
Saving the NHS
Corbyn went on to say that once the public realised what was happening to the NHS his party would bounce back. He added that his priority was to cancel the planned cuts to corporation tax and reinvest the money in social care.
On freedom of movement he said, “What I have been talking about all along is the question of ending the grotesque exploitation and the undercutting that goes on. Are we going to cut ourselves off from Europe completely? I don’t think so.”
He also said his media representation was unfair, something independent studies support.