Green Party deputy leader: being 'good and decent' should count for something
As in many areas of policy and process, the Green Party is ahead of its time. (That’s one way of being progressive.)
Take this statement about leadership from us as it pertains to good governance:
‘We seek a society in which people are empowered and involved in making the decisions which affect them.
We advocate participatory and democratic politics. Leadership should always be accountable, consensus-driven and moral.
We reject the hierarchical structure of leaders and followers.’
The complaints of Corbyn’s erstwhile front bench colleagues have become a cacophony over the last few days. A vote of no confidence was precipitated and won by them. Corbyn has never looked more vulnerable.
Far from seeking to capitalise on Labour’s grief for party political gain, I simply wish to understand it and what it says about leadership in politics.
Given Corbyn’s refrain that he was elected overwhelmingly by grassroots members to pursue a new and different way of doing politics, we should ask whether his leadership style needs to be given a better chance.
The scenes of people gathering to greet and support the Labour leader outside parliament this week were quite extraordinary.
Far from finding himself undermined in their eyes, Corbyn is seen as representing their cause more vividly, as the underdog versus the establishment. Here is a leader they can identify with – for them, it is his detractors who have lost touch.
What does this tell us about what his detractors say makes a good leader? Should Corbyn have made others believe in something he didn’t, or at least not to the extent required, by confecting emotion? How does that sit with honesty and authenticity in politics, characteristics in all too short supply?
The biggest clue comes from Hilary Benn’s put-down of Corbyn:
‘He’s a good and decent man, but he’s not a leader. That’s the problem.’
Benn begs the question about what counts as a leader, or at least a good one.
It sounds like he is claiming Corbyn’s stated attributes count for nothing towards leadership. Yet surely he is wrong about that.
To be a good leader one should surely be at least ‘good and decent’; call it a necessary if not sufficient condition.
Leaders pursuing wrongful causes are ten-a-penny. They are bad leaders in the most important sense, in their failure of moral judgement.
While Corbyn’s own colleagues plot against him, they might reflect on the alternative: empower thyself – not to have control over Corbyn, but rather to direct oneself to post-Brexit emergency planning.
This might require rather more leadership than they are used to showing, and it sounds to me, for all their protest, that they would not make for good leaders.
Shahrar Ali is deputy leader of the Green Party
See: Jeremy Corbyn ‘will not betray’ members by resigning
See: Is Corbyn’s mandate as robust as he thinks it is?
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20 Responses to “What do Jeremy Corbyn’s critics mean by ‘good leadership’?”
Martin Read
Many of Corbyn’s detractors have fought harder against their own leader than ever they have against the Tories. The Blairites helped ease in the PFIs that are crippling the NHS, have done almost nothing to challenge the growing disparity between the wealthiest and poorest in the UK, and would quietly have welcomed the implementation of TTIP had it not been ‘outed’ by better socialists than themselves. If they depose Corbyn many members will not be quick to forget or forgive their betrayal and self-serving ways.
A Khan
For Corbyn’s rebels, a good leader is the one
who is elected by a fraction of the members (obviously Corbyn was elected by 60%)
whose party lose all elections after becoming a leader
who makes noise but finally toes the govt’s line
whose main aim is not any principles but getting into and staying in power
who does not hesitate bombing or voting to bomb distant nations
who care more about he MP’s than the people who elect the MP’s
who resigns when the MP’s ask him to resign.
Fred
Let’s face it, the only people who really support Jeremy Corbyn have dreadlocks, tie-dyed T-shirts, dogs on a length of rope and placards. The only person in the UK who doesn’t understand this: Jeremy Corbyn.
Carey
Thanks for this Sharah Ali. I agree!
Vicky Seddon
Mr Corbyn hasn’t been able to hold the party together – a priority for a leader. He said he welcomed and wanted to work with people of different perspectives in the party and to welcome their contributions. He hasn’t done that.
He and his office have not been helpful to the Remain Campaign
Yes he is a decent man and a kind man. But that does not mean he has the ability to lead. Or to be perceived as a possible prime minister. He does the party no favours by not resigning so that someone with the appropriate skills can try. This is very divisive