Resonate

In 1995, at Tony Blair's first local elections as Labour Leader, that party won 46 per cent of the seats being contested. A Labour landslide was proclaimed.

In 2006, at David Cameron's first local elections as Conservative Leader, that party won 41 per cent of the seats being contested. A Conservative triumph was announced.

This week, at Jeremy Corbyn's first local elections as Labour Leader, that party has won 47 per cent of the seats being contested. A Labour disaster has been gleefully bemoaned.

Labour has just won or held 1270 seats. The Conservatives have just won or held 726 seats. How is this bad for Labour? How is it good for the Conservatives?

Labour has just lost 18 seats, while the Conservatives have just lost 47. But the "200 Labour losses" story has been run, and continues to be run, as if everything had gone according to plan.

These election results have been their own answer to the campaign against Corbyn.

If anything, his enemies are starting to work out that if they got rid of him, then the members would give them John McDonnell instead. Same views. Very different style.

If the Left, which would mean him, were not on the ballot, then it would be the end of the Labour Party.

The PLP would be left talking to itself, waiting to lose its seats for the sheer want of campaigners in 2020. 

Labour won these elections.

The Conservatives' private obsessions with Israel, the Falkland Islands and the IRA simply do not resonate with normal people.

That is no longer a mere matter of opinion. It is now a proven fact.