Mamdani, Corbyn and the War Within the Centre-Left
About this episode
This episode explores the parallels between the British Labour Party's conflict with Jeremy Corbyn and the challenges faced by Zohran Mamdani in American politics.
In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, I explore the striking parallels between the British Labour Party's war on Jeremy Corbyn and the Democrat establishment's growing fear of Zohran Mamdani – a new kind of left politics that refuses to be bullied. We begin with the uncomfortable truth that much of what passes for "liberalism" in American politics – and "moderation" in British politics – is a defence of wealthy interests dressed up in progressive language. The Democrats and the post-Thatcher Labour Party share a common DNA: they believe in markets, they court Wall Street and Silicon Valley, and they have systematically abandoned any meaningful commitment to redistributing wealth and power. Then we turn to the Corbyn story – an object lesson for the American left. Between 2015 and 2020, a genuinely anti-austerity movement swept through the Labour Party, only to be destroyed from within by a coordinated campaign of sabotage. The Labour right, funded by billionaire donors and organised through secretive groups like Labour Together, waged a rolling coup against their own leader – not because they disagreed with his policies, but because he threatened to actually…
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