Come out of the Brexit closet, Mr Corbyn – it would be the perfect boost for your brand
The Brexit debacle has dis-Mayed many, but it could be the opportunity of Jeremy Corbyn’s political career, his chance to regain ground and become a contender once more.
He just needs to ditch his Remain mask and come out as a proud pro-Brexiteer. It’s the perfect boost for Brand Corbyn.
Last year Corbyn denied pre-referendum claims that if he were a mere backbencher, and not the leader of the Labour Party, he would be campaigning from the left to leave the EU. He refuted any suggestion that his Remain stance was pragmatism, plain and simple, as he tried to manage the party.
That’s never an easy task, made all the more volatile this week after issuing a three-line whip to Labour MPs that demands they vote to allow the article 50 bill to go through. Cue much hand-wringing and rebellion within the divided ranks.
Is he starting to show his true colours now the chips are down? What if he outed himself completely and reclaimed his authentic Brexit voice? Then he’d be in a much better position to take on Theresa May in the Prime Minister stakes. The timing for a rebrand has never been better.
Let’s not fool ourselves. Theresa May faces a potentially disastrous constitutional crisis over the triggering of article 50.
The supreme court has ruled that the Westminster parliament must vote on article 50, but the devolved nations have been told they’ll have little input and no veto. Aye, right… Scotland might have something to say about that. Another indyref anyone?
With feelings running high, we can’t rule out an early general election where the prime minister might find herself between a rock and a hard Brexit place in a proper face-off with Her Majesty’s opposition leader.
There’s the rub. Regardless of all the squirming protestations and resignations of EU-loving Labour Remain MPs, Jeremy Corbyn will only present a clear and present danger in an election with Theresa May if he's honest about his pro-Brexit stance.
Still unconvinced? We managed the PR and media strategy for Labour GO, founded by pro-Brexit Labour MP Kate Hoey, and executed the main press activity for a full six months leading up to the referendum, so we think we have a pretty clear picture of where Jeremy Corbyn truly stands.
He was pro-Brexit before it was even called Brexit – and Labour’s left-wing party members who made him their leader know it. More than 30% of Labour Party members, all left-wing, voted for Brexit and yet their cheerleader is hiding in the closet.
An authentic, fearless pro-Brexit Corbyn would pose a serious threat to May. He would also help ward off a slide to UKIP in the upcoming Copeland and Stoke-on-Trent Central by-elections.
The same authenticity and fearlessness could also swell the ranks of young Corbynistas. Twice as many 17-21 year-olds support Labour over the Tories – according to YouGov – and he's especially favoured by grime artists and their fans. To this crew, Jeremy Corbyn is da’man.
Sonny Green, the Essex rapper and grime artist known as The Voice Of British Youth is even about to release his own tribute track. Straight and to the point, it’s entitled Jeremy Corbyn and follows hits like Nothing, Fuck Off and Bars. Grime is in your face, raw and real. As the genre increases in popularity, so could the Labour leader's ratings.
Time for the Labour leader to get with the programme?
Corbyn was a radical choice for leader, thanks to Labour’s Brexit-voting hard left, and radical is what’s called for now.
So come on, Jeremy – step out of the closet and own your Brexit beliefs. We know you’re a survivor – the vote of no confidence proved that – but full-on Brexiteering is the golden ticket that could make you a winner.
Andrew Eborn can be reached at Andrew.Eborn@OctopusTV.com, @octopustv and @andreweborn and Richard Hillgrove via richard.hillgrove@6hillgrove.com, @6Hillgrove