IT’s a political truism that a leader’s keynote conference speech should be aimed at two audiences – the one in the hall but, more importantly, the one at home.
Yet Jeremy Corbyn seemed to have concentrated his message firmly on those adoring fans in Brighton, pressing lots of buttons to warm the cockles of democratic socialist hearts – anti-austerity, anti-Trident, pro-council house building, pro bringing schools under local council oversight and pro NHS.
The big omission was just how Corbynite Labour would grow the economy, how businesses would be helped to create more jobs and how Britain’s books would be balanced.
The greatest emphasis was on bringing traditional British values of fairness, decency and kindness back into politics; all of which made it, at times, feel like a speech one would get at a Liberal Democrat conference.
The most interesting part was when Mr Corbyn spoke about his attempt to shift the political axis of British politics – so long having moved to the Right – back to the Left. So, he spoke of a “new politics”, indeed a “New Left”, and the great divide in society between the rich, powerful few and the rest of us.
Talking about property and power, class and capital, he said: “Labour is the voice that says to the many, at home and abroad: ‘You don’t have to take what you’re given.’”
Of course, Mr Corbyn’s personal appeal to a large extent is his unstructured authenticity; so there was no Jeremy the Movie, no suit, yes, there was a tie but it was skewed and, apparently, borrowed. There were misspoken words and unfinished sentences but this, for some, just adds to his unfinished appeal.
Politics, however, is a ruthless pursuit. David Cameron and the Tories, who gather in Manchester at the weekend for their conference, will believe they have little to fear from the hairy Leftie, who might appeal to a certain section of society, disgruntled and disengaged from slick message politics, but they know they are not the ones to decide who will win power in 2020; Middle Britain will and Mr Corbyn has a long way to go to win it over.
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