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Yui Mok/PA

'I was clearly wrong': How Jeremy Corbyn confounded expectations in the UK's election

He received massive praise yesterday from some of his harshest critics.

LABOUR LEADER JEREMY Corbyn has repeatedly beaten the odds in his long and colourful political career and he appears to have done so again, leaving his critics in the awkward position of having to issue climbdowns after an unexpectedly strong result in Britain’s national election.

The 68-year-old socialist stalwart began his election campaign as rank outsider – a status he turned to his advantage – and experts said the results mean internal party rumblings against his leadership will be toned down.

Labour MP Owen Smith, who stood against Corbyn in Labour’s leadership election last year once remarked that his rival’s political principles were “just hot air”.

His views took a remarkable turn after Labour’s election success Thursday night. “I was clearly wrong in feeling that Jeremy was unable to do this well and I think he’s proved me wrong and lots of people wrong and I take my hat off to him,” he told the BBC.

“I don’t know what Jeremy’s got but if we could bottle it and drink it we’d all be doing very well,” Smith added.

We were hearing people who hadn’t voted for a long while voting Labour yesterday evening, who were inspired by the policies, and it has to be said by Jeremy, to vote Labour last night.

Brexit

Drawing comparisons to Bernie Sanders in the United States, Corbyn on the campaign trail railed against the establishment and harnessed public angst over Prime Minister Theresa May’s leadership in turbulent times.

After an exit poll and near-complete results suggested the Conservatives may have lost their majority and Labour may have come a strong second, Corbyn yesterday said voters had “turned their backs on the politics of austerity”.

May and the right-leaning tabloids lambasted Corbyn as ill-prepared to face the challenges of terrorism and Brexit, even branding him a threat to the nation.

But Corbyn was able to score unexpected points against May during the bitterly fought campaign, casting her as cold and uncaring on social welfare reforms and reckless on police funding cuts during her tenure as interior minister.

Relaxed and tie-less, he came across at lively rallies as an amiable underdog making a principled stand for society’s poorest and managed to appeal to many younger voters.

“Jeremy Corbyn appears to have been vindicated,” said Mike Finn, politics researcher at the University of Warwick.

“It seems now clear that his approach to Labour politics resonates with the public and he is undeniably strengthened,” he said.

‘Hopeless’

Among those emerging with their tails between their legs today were political commentators and journalists who admitted, quite frankly, that they got it completely wrong when it came to Corbyn’s abilities as a leader.

The Independent’s John Rentoul referred to himself as “hopeless” writing yesterday about his election predictions.

“I was wrong about Jeremy Corbyn. I had already been wrong about him twice. I thought he would come fourth in the Labour leadership election in 2015, and I thought that, when he was exposed to the British public in an election campaign, Labour’s support would go down,” he wrote.

But I do try to learn from my mistakes, and so, knowing that I had been wrong about him, I tried to offset my own bias. I didn’t do a good job.

Ayesha Hazarika, former special adviser to Ed Miliband, has written several critical opinion pieces about the Labour leader for The Guardian. She had this to say, writing for the newspaper yesterday:

“I got it wrong on Corbyn. He ripped up the political rules from the minute he decided to stand for the Labour leadership.”

- With reporting from AFP.

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32 Comments
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    Mute James Brown
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    Apr 18th 2018, 8:56 PM

    Just so I’m clear, we’re in the middle of a housing crisis with homeless people dying on the streets of our Capital, a health service crisis with a record number of people on trolleys in January this year etc, etc……………… & Dublin City Council want to spend €15,000,000.00 on a feckin Kayaking Course through the IFSC. Well at least it’s nice to see DCC have got their priorities right!! Total bunch of wasters. We’d be better off replacing them with a bunch of trained chimps!!

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    Mute Pat Bateman
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    Apr 18th 2018, 9:00 PM

    @James Brown: I’m usually first to slate someone for bringing homeless into everything, but €15,000,000 for a kayak course. 15 million. Fifteeeeenn Milllionnnn. Surely its just a few poles in the water for them to go between or am I missing something here?

    245
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    Mute New Property
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    Apr 18th 2018, 9:02 PM

    @James Brown: crazy they have a budget and have to spend it. These should be got rid of all money should be held by government and given out according to need.

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    Mute Peter Heylin
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    Apr 18th 2018, 9:21 PM

    @James Brown: untrained chimps would be more able than Dublin City Council, never mind trained…

    45
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    Mute Declan
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    Apr 18th 2018, 10:18 PM

    @James Brown: I second that and would take away the S and T in wasters and put in an N and K in their place. 31,000€ on a set of chairs and a table? Millions missing in accounts, no money in the DCC?? 27 million euros for a June on the N32? You couldn’t make it up, wasters.

    24
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    Mute Declan
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    Apr 18th 2018, 10:20 PM

    @Declan: A hub on the N32.

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    Mute dowthebow
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    Apr 18th 2018, 10:53 PM

    @Pat Bateman: it’s a whitewater kayaking course Pat, so it would have to create currents, a slalom course is what you might be thinking of…

    9
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    Mute Darren Norris
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    Apr 18th 2018, 11:44 PM

    @James Brown: let’s abandon logic and build 59 new ballymuns then… makes sense

    10
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    Mute Patrick O Connell
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    Apr 19th 2018, 9:40 AM

    @James Brown: remember that Dublin City Council is run by FF/SF and the loony left and yet they constantly give out about homeless etc yet spend 15 million of a kayak course. will we see any of them hit the airwaves saying the money should be spent on social/free housing.

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    Mute Gordon Nash
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    Apr 18th 2018, 8:53 PM

    Don’t see why not. But I’m sure someone else will…

    156
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    Mute Patty Cullinane
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    Apr 18th 2018, 9:06 PM

    @Gordon Nash: pretty much everyone else will.

    39
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    Mute Toomasu Sumitsu
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    Apr 19th 2018, 8:30 AM

    @Patty Cullinane: that’s not what the pole says. I assume it’s got artificial rapids or something or a club house building that would justify the cost. It not it’s a joke.

    5
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    Mute David peate
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    Apr 18th 2018, 8:51 PM

    what a great idea, they could build a cycle track around it too while they’re at it

    107
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    Mute Kevin Moylan
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    Apr 18th 2018, 9:03 PM

    @David peate: and a 18 hole golf course

    73
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    Mute James Brown
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    Apr 18th 2018, 9:13 PM

    @Kevin Moylan: Maybe we could spend that €15million on another metal stick in the middle of our Capital. Just imagine all the tourists that have traveled from far & wide to witness our marvelous ‘Spire’. I bet they’d bursting at the seams to come over here & take a photo beside the tallest street lamps in the world.

    91
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    Mute Murph
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    Apr 18th 2018, 9:08 PM

    The boom is well and truly back I tells ya!

    82
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    Mute Darren Norris
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    Apr 18th 2018, 11:45 PM

    @Murph: why

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    Mute Dave Thomas
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    Apr 19th 2018, 12:07 AM

    @Darren Norris: when you can afford money for poop like this there must be loads of it around

    28
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    Mute Lesley Harpur O Connell
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    Apr 18th 2018, 9:12 PM

    Build housing first….

    82
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    Mute Darren Norris
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    Apr 18th 2018, 11:45 PM

    @Lesley Harpur O Connell: on the river?

    18
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    Mute Wingah Boffah
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    Apr 18th 2018, 9:21 PM

    Ah Jaysus i was only saying to me pal the other day “do ya know what this city needs…a kayak course right in the bleedin middle of it” and now here it is in the Journal, bleedin deadly i tell ya!

    96
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    Mute Nek nedyah
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    Apr 18th 2018, 9:21 PM

    Use the liffey , it’s free , and in my life time it has never run out of water .
    For €15 million , I could tilt the western side of Dublin for a “rapids effect”

    65
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    Mute Toomasu Sumitsu
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    Apr 19th 2018, 8:32 AM

    @Nek nedyah: Google employees don’t wonder further than the Phoenix Park

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    Mute Ian James Burgess
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    Apr 18th 2018, 9:02 PM

    More unbelievable nonsense from our brain dead civil servants. This has Owen Keegan written all over it. Crisis what crisis.

    93
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    Mute Darren Norris
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    Apr 18th 2018, 11:45 PM

    @Ian James Burgess: explain why it’s a bad idea to use the river?

    14
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    Mute Dean Anderson
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    Apr 18th 2018, 10:38 PM

    not all of the 15 million is going on the kayaking. a large sum has been set aside for Venezuelan, Catalan &Palestinian flags to be erected at key points around the kayaking area. there isn’t enough room outside DCC hq for all the flags anymore. what do people expect a city council to do? run a city properly? don’t be daft…

    37
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    Mute meh
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    Apr 18th 2018, 9:44 PM

    Could they not use some of that money to pay off the bar tab in the Dail?

    31
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    Mute Bobby Byrne
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    Apr 19th 2018, 7:54 AM

    @meh: the Dail bar tab is 30 million so it would just be a waste of time

    1
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    Mute Jarlath Murphy
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    Apr 18th 2018, 9:37 PM

    Funfair for the Banksters?

    Why not, Ireland is Shangri La for the Banksters!

    30
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    Mute Dotty Dunleary
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    Apr 18th 2018, 9:46 PM

    Maybe Eoghan Murphy and his elitist leader, Varadkar can simply wash all the homeless and the drug addicted out to sea in this new multi-million Euro whitewater bath, problems solved?

    26
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    Mute Ted Murray
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    Apr 18th 2018, 9:43 PM

    I think they’re confusing kayak with craic, an easy mistake.

    12
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    Mute Nek nedyah
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    Apr 18th 2018, 10:03 PM

    @Ted Murray: I think they’re on crack

    15
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    Mute Patty Cullinane
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    Apr 18th 2018, 9:05 PM

    Absolutely build this…and so much more yuppie bulls**t. This way…no one will ever have to leave Dublin for any reason; except everyone who can’t afford to live there anymore. Ugh.

    36
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    Mute Fearghal
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    Apr 18th 2018, 11:53 PM

    If this affects Oktoberfest, there’ll be trouble!

    9
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    Mute Dave Thomas
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    Apr 19th 2018, 12:10 AM

    If someone points out the liffey to these guys it will save 15m.

    9
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    Mute Sam Alexander
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    Apr 18th 2018, 11:50 PM

    Did the Ardmear see one in Gaza?

    7
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    Mute Adrian
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    Apr 18th 2018, 9:18 PM

    What are the subjects?

    6
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    Mute VeeryDrink
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    Apr 18th 2018, 10:46 PM

    Serial tree hugger Keegan’s dirty mitts are all over this one…

    15
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    Mute Jane Nic Conchradha
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    Apr 18th 2018, 10:30 PM

    You couldn’t make this sh*t up.

    26
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    Mute Darren Norris
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    Apr 18th 2018, 11:48 PM

    @Jane Nic Conchradha: using the river for a boating activity? Surely it’s madness? Maybe a floating homeless aid is needed?

    11
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    Mute Pl O'neill
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    Apr 19th 2018, 12:40 AM

    This could be good if your pissed , especially if ya were pissed when ya came up with the idea .

    5
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    Mute Finbar Loftus
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    Apr 19th 2018, 9:49 AM

    15 million euros to complete a recreational facility … thousands homeless???
    Good to know we have our priorities right.

    1
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