As the Jeremy Corbyn project hurtles towards an existential election, an old alliance is reasserting itself. The political partnership between Corbyn and John McDonnell sustained the Labour left at its weakest moments. While Corbyn enthused crowds in the 2015 leadership election, McDonnell oversaw messaging and strategy; in the early chaotic days after Corbyn’s triumph, McDonnell acted as a stabilising force. But Murphy undoubtedly eclipsed McDonnell’s old role, becoming the second most powerful figure in the leader’s office after Corbyn himself. The rise of powerful officials within the Corbyn project led one senior figure to half-jokingly suggest reading Leon Trotsky’s work on how the Soviet bureaucracy subverted the Russian revolution.

Source: The Guardian October 11, 2019 10:26 UTC