Reports of the death of the Labour Party are much exaggerated

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35003152

Seems the pundits got it wrong again. The non stop traducing of Corbyn by the rabid right-wing rags seems to have backfired. Farage is not a happy bunny!

[mk1]

MK1 - thought I'd respond by injecting a joke at this point

THE CORBYN SHADOW CABINET

Is that the  same Party that hammered UKIP  the by-Election?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/nigel-farage/12033154/Oldham-by-election-Nigel-Farage-will-always-be-a-bridesmaid-never-a-bride.html


One man for whom the political fundamentals have changed though is Nigel Farage. For the best part of five years we have teetered tantalisingly on the brink of the Great Ukip Breakthrough. The European elections. Douglas Carswell's defection. Mark Reckless re-election. Thanet South in the general election.
It didn't happen. It hasn't happened. It will never happen.
Oldham was fertile territory for Ukip. We know this because Ukip told us it was. Labour's white working-class voters were set to abandon Labour in droves and rally to the ranks of the People's Army. Instead they abandoned Labour in droves and rallied to their own living rooms.
Nigel Farage tried everything. Giant poster vans bearing his image. Fake Labour leaflets. A speaker van that toured the constituency – a constituency that still bears the scars of race riots – playing "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas".
And Ukip ended up with 20 per cent – the quintessential Ukip result. A poor second. It will be carved on his grave stone: "Here lies Nigel Farage. He came a poor second."
There was a time when we thought Ukip's destiny was to destroy the Conservative Party. Now it seems its historical function may simply be to get stuck in the throat of the Labour Party. Despite the exultant roar of the Corbynites this morning, Labour's white working-class base is being gradually eroded. Some of that base will be lost to apathy. Some of it will be lost to an increasingly centrist Tory party. And yes come a general election, some of it will defect to Nigel Farage's party.
But not enough of it. Ukip will again wrack up a series of respectable second places. It will continue to split the Labour vote, and bring a number of northern constituencies into play for George Osborne or Boris Johnson.
But Nigel Farage will forever be a political bridesmaid. The magic has gone. The aura has dissipated. There is no longer any spark. Where once he dreamt of shattering the mould of British politics, he has now become just another piece of the political furniture. A second hand-piece of furniture.
Jeremy Corbyn exceeded expectations in Oldham. Nigel Farage met them. And he always will.