On 8 August, the Guardian reported that Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party still had over 500,000 members at the end of 2018.
In other words, the endless smears from the right and its corporate media allies are failing to make a serious dent in the party’s membership. And the mutinies of MPs on the Labour right are falling just as flat. Because while the number of members fell in 2018, the latest Labour accounts report 518,659 members as of December 2018. This was down from 564,443 the previous year – a fall that the party said was “in line with previous experience” outside a period of general elections or leadership campaigns.
This means Labour is still – by far – the biggest political party in the UK. And that contributed to Labour raising more income in 2018 than any other party.
It also means that Labour, for the third year running, has its biggest membership since the 1970s:
A Labour spokesperson told the Mirror:
Labour is proud to be one of the largest political parties in Europe, with an active and diverse membership who are working to transform our society for the many not the few.
Our finances are in good health and we remain on an election footing, ready to fight the election whenever it may be called.
“People powered”
Numerous Twitter users commented on how impressive these membership figures are considering the non-stop attempts to undermine Corbyn’s leadership:
But…but…but..@campbellclaret and the #FBPE brigade said that Labour was haemorrhaging members.
Surprise surprise. That was bullshit.
Labour membership remains above 500,000 https://t.co/UJgCJYlHyA
— RedHerring (@CoastKerry) August 8, 2019
Total number of Labour members as of December 2018
518,659
This means that Labour membership has been above 500,000 in 2016, 2017 and 2018 (i.e. for 3 years in a row)
The last time Labour had 500k members for 3 successive years in a row was in the 1970s https://t.co/o2p1a2kDTr
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) August 8, 2019
Labour’s membership remains above 500,000. Remarkable when you think over the last two years much of the media has tried to contrive an alternative reality where it’s in free fall https://t.co/uwdMzIE5EK
— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) August 8, 2019
Anyway…so much for corbynism being on the decline.#WeAreMany #ChangeIsComing and it's people powered
Labour membership falls slightly but remains above 500,000 https://t.co/qPUSxeUTmu
— 🟨🟥 Lil Old Me #PeaceAndJustice #ResistParty ✊ (@relovedreams) August 8, 2019
This may be disappointing news to many media commentators and the more bovine section of the PLP, but this is good news for those of us who want a Labour Government. https://t.co/bAZwXIUPCC
— Mark Seddon (@MarkSeddon1962) August 8, 2019
Jeremy Corbyn is still trying to restore Britain’s trust in both politics and his own party after the Tory-lite years of Tony Blair and co. And he’s doing all of that with the media, political, and economic establishment firmly against him.
Far from giving up, though, Corbyn is making his plan for a “green industrial revolution” a core part of his campaigning; travelling around the country listening to ordinary people; offering peace, integrity, and an end to disastrous and wasteful regime-change wars abroad; pledging to stop the devastation of austerity; and proposing a truly transformative democratic vision for Britain’s future.
The right and centre of British politics may dislike Corbyn. But he’s going nowhere. And the latest memberships stats show us why.
Featured image via Rwendland – Wikimedia Commons
