Tom Watson’s resignation of the Labour Party is undoubtedly a massive blow to the moderate wing of the party but is it indicative of the way things are going or a symptom of the status quo?
Tom who has been a member and an activist of the Labour Party since he was 15 and an MP since 2001 was often the voice for party moderates speaking out against antisemitism, urging people to remain in the party, a vocal critic of Jeremy Corbyn’s stance on Brexit and at logger heads with one time close friend Len McCluskey, leader of Unite the Union.
To many Tom’s resignation will come as a shock and surprise but to others it will be an occasion to rejoice. His decision to resign from the Labour Party is understandable given the attempts to oust him from the Labour Party and to abolish the deputy leaders position which received a stay of execution when Jeremy Corbyn announced that there would be a review into the position. Presumably that review is ongoing and a decision will be announced by the next Labour Party conference ?
So, what now for the Labour Party? Well, everything hinges on the outcome of the election. At the moment it’s hard to make any solid predictions about the outcome of the election which will be dominated by Brexit. The Labour Party’s stance on Brexit is ambiguous and confusing in the minds of the electorate which in turn could result in a swing of leave labour voters going to the Conservative or Brexit parties and conversely in Scotland a swing to the Scottish National Party who have had a consistent pro- EU remain message.
In Scotland the SNP are predicted to win the majority of seats with the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party retaining only two and it will be only a matter of time until we start hearing jokes about pandas.
A hung parliament is still a likely outcome which could see Jeremy Corbyn enter number 10 either as a minority Labour Government on its own or propped up by the SNP via a confidence and supply agreement. If that is the case the constitutional debate will continue with the SNP wanting a Section 30 order to hold a second Scottish independence referendum, presumably after a second EU referendum and this will be a big issue and problem for the Scottish Labour Party.
That said, if Labour fail to win the election and Boris Johnson wins with a majority then the Labour Party will be having elections for a leader and deputy leader which will shape the face and direction of the Labour Party, which could be a real game changer with the emphasis on re-building the party to become a credible election winning machine again.