When we were canvassing for Rupa during the last election, we felt we'd have to work hard to protect her slim majority. In fact, as we got closer to election day, it became increasingly apparent that there was a genuine enthusiasm on the streets of Ealing for the Labour Party manifesto and for Jeremy Corbyn as leader - rather more so than among certain Labour MPs who were hoping to hang on to their seats but really wanted to lose the election big time so they could get rid of Jeremy. As we know, that didn't happen, with significant Labour gains and a swing to Rupa in Ealing that was far more than could be explained by any personal vote, as it was for many of our other successful candidates. In retrospect, we didn't really need to spend all that effort on Rupa, and if we'd turned our attention to, say, Uxbridge or Putney, we might have won even more seats.
And with the election to come, the Labour Party will again have a manifesto that will appeal to the public, to set against nearly 10 years of needless Tory austerity and the hollow promises and outrageous behaviour of their present so-called leader. |