Wounded After Harris’ Presidential Loss, the Democratic Party Should Study Jeremy Corbyn and the New British Left for Inspiration
Article Written by Jett James Pruitt
Ask any observer of American politics, and the vast majority would agree that morale within the Democratic Party has evaporated in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential victory. Most alarmingly, not a single Democratic leader has emerged as the current or future frontrunner of the party—thus, creating the impression that the DNC is more lost and disorganized than ever.
According to a 2024 survey conducted by Pew Research Center between November 12-17, only 51 percent of respondents who identify as Democrat say they are optimistic about the future of the Democratic Party, whereas 49 percent are pessimistic. This is in stark contrast to 2020, when 83 percent said they were optimistic.
Coinciding with this pessimism is intense finger-pointing among party members, with key centrist political strategists such as Nate Silver and Matt Yglesias blaming the influence of ‘woke’ academics and “progressive institutionalists” for Harris’ loss. Senator Joe Manchin (I-W.V.), a former Democrat, derided the progressive wing of the Democrat Party as ‘toxic’ and argued that “this country is not going Left” during an interview with Fox News.
Meanwhile, a number of progressives are calling for the Democratic Party to shift further left on economic issues, asserting that the moderate faction of the party has not done enough to uplift marginalized communities within the United States.
Pete D’Alessandro (who advised Senator Bernie Sanders during his 2016 presidential campaign) contended in an interview with The Hill: “Success runs directly though leading with economic issues. This isn’t some abstract theory either. It’s what Dems do when they win. You lead with economic populism and because you win, you can do the other things.”
As Democrats regroup for the upcoming 2026 and 2028 national elections, it's clear that a new leader—and a new plan of action—must come forward. Surprisingly, the answer may be sitting in plain view across the pond.
Serving at 10 Downing Street for a mere five months, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is already considered one of the most unpopular prime ministers in modern British history.
On December 17, polling firm Ipsos published a survey indicating that 61 percent of UK voters are dissatisfied with Starmer’s performance as the country’s head of government, whereas only 27 percent are satisfied with the current ministry. In effect, Starmer has a net satisfaction score of -34, the worst for any Prime Minister since the 1970s. For comparison, Rishi Sunak (who presided over one of the Conservative Party’s worst electoral defeats in this year’s general election) received a net approval of -22 at the same point in his ministry.
These findings may be initially shocking to an international observer, as Starmer recently led the Labour Party to its largest electoral victory on July 4 in which it won 411 out of 650 seats in the House of Commons. Yet, things have quickly turned sour for the Labour Party, mainly because Starmer has been unsuccessful in spurring economic growth or reassuring most British voters that strained conditions will improve anytime soon.
On December 26, the Center for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) published a report indicating that the UK's growth in GDP per capita (a figure used by economists to measure national living standards) will be among the weakest in the Group of Seven (G7) over the next five years. While it is far below the 11.1 percent mark in October 2022, inflation continues to drain British consumers, with the average rise in prices hovering above the Bank of England’s target for two consecutive months.
Most notably, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recorded zero percent GDP growth for the third quarter of 2024.
Of course, Starmer’s Ministry has not been idle in addressing the country’s persistent economic challenges.
In October, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, introduced a budget that raised taxes in the UK by £40 billion in order to narrow the country’s spending deficit and increase investment in public services. This particular measure was largely tolerated by British voters, with a survey conducted by the University of Bristol showing that roughly 48 percent of respondents thought the tax rises were “necessary," while 18 percent felt “neutral” towards the scheme. However, even if the budget was generally accepted, it was not necessarily popular, as 57 percent of respondents expected to be worse off as a result of the tax hike.
As American political strategist and campaign manager James Carville once famously said, “It’s the economy, stupid.” And just like many other leaders before Starmer, a stale and lifeless economy may very well be his undoing.
For this reason, the Labour Party is currently on track to losing its grip on Westminster despite possessing the largest electoral mandate in its history.
As Starmer struggles to renew his appeal among the British electorate, a small group of independent MPs are slowly emerging as a serious threat to the Labour Party’s position as the dominant force of the British left: Jeremy Corbyn, Iqbal Mohamed, Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain, and Shockat Adam, who represent the constituencies of Islington North, Dewsbury and Batley, Birmingham Perry Barr, Blackburn, and Leicester South in the House of Commons, respectively.
Corbyn—who previously served as Leader of the Labour Party—forged an alliance with the four MPs based on their shared support for Palestine amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, with journalist Katy Balls of The Spectator dubbing the group as the Gaza 5.
This is in stark contrast to the current government, which has been largely in favor of Israel and continues to supply the country with weaponry and military personnel.
In addition to diverging with the current Labour Party over its stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict, the alliance of independent MPs have attracted attention for being further on the ideological left than Starmer on economic issues. Notably, in a September Op-ed for Jacobin Magazine, Corybn lambasted Starmer for enacting austere economic measures such as scrapping the winter fuel repayment scheme, stating:
“Did he get permission from the Tories to reuse their trademark slogans?. . . It is astonishing to hear government ministers try to pull the wool over the public’s eyes. The government knows that there is a range of choices available to them. It could introduce wealth taxes to raise upward of £10 billion. It could stop wasting public money on private contracts. It could launch a fundamental redistribution of power by bringing water and energy into full public ownership. Instead, it has opted to take resources away from people who were promised things would change.”
Corbyn further asserted “There is plenty of money, it’s just in the wrong hands—and we will not be fooled by ministers’ attempts to feign regret over cruel decisions they know they don’t have to make.”
While none of the aforementioned MPs have officially confirmed plans to form a new political party, there are reports that the alliance will file the necessary paperwork to formally register as a party in the near future.
As per the polling agency YouGov, only five percent of Labour voters say they consider themselves pro-Israel. Therefore, the Corbyn Alliance would certainly pose a challenge for the Labour Party’s future electoral prospects if this were to occur.
With respect to the United States, progressive strategists may want to keep a close eye on their British counterparts.
Indeed, a number of international pundits have drawn a parallel between the progressive ‘Squad’ (composed of party renegades Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Illhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib in the House of Representatives) with Corbyn’s new alliance, observing that both groups reflect growing dissatisfaction with traditional center and center-left policies among segments of each country’s population.
However, the major difference between the two countries is that the United States is still widely supportive of Israel, even though a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll revealed that more than two-thirds of Americans support a ceasefire in Gaza. Moreover, 32 percent of Americans believe the U.S. should support Israel no matter what the circumstances.
So the big question remains: what direction will Democrats head to regain strength and confidence among the American public? The one thing every Democrat can agree upon is that a change of course is necessary. A significant move to the Right, back towards the Center, or a seismic shift further Left are all options on the table for the national Democratic Party.
One only needs to watch the UK over the next 2 years to see which option may prove best.
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Jett James Pruitt is a Native American, Pulitzer Prize-nominated author of the bestselling book THROUGH THE EYES OF A YOUNG AMERICAN. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of TheGenZPost.com, and a political strategist specializing in Generation Z voter trends. His next book, THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE: What America's Political Parties Must Do To Win Over Generation Z, will be released in major bookstores worldwide in early 2025.
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