Post by The TodalUKIP has one council seat and no MPs. Labour has many council seats and
many MPs. Labour still has enormous tribal loyalty - like a football
club that is a hundred years old.
Rather like Barnstoneworth United* in Ripping Yarns then?
Well worth another look at the 'Golden Gordon' tale as an allegory.
Post by The TodalNo matter whether or not Corbyn is
respected, there is a core Labour vote that will ensure Labour remains
the biggest opposition party.
But its core is shrinking daily. Like grapes it will doubtless be
better when it's totally seedless.
* "Barnstoneworth United is a small football club, once successful in
the Yorkshire Premier League, now losing every game. One of their fans,
Gordon Ottershaw (Palin), who has named his son Barnstoneworth United
(John Berlyne), comes home after every lost match and smashes the
furniture in fury. His wife Eileen (Gwen Taylor) quietly accepts this,
although she protects the valuable family clock on the mantelpiece. She
keeps trying to tell him that she's having a baby, even putting notes in
his lunchbox, but he seems not to notice. After an 8-1 defeat by an
elderly team ("Eight One - Eight bloody One! - And even that were an own
goal!"),[6] it is decided that the club will be disbanded and the ground
sold to a scrap dealer. The upcoming match against Denley Moor (the
scene of The Testing of Eric Olthwaite) will therefore be the last.
Gordon visits the new owner, Mr. Foggen (Bill Fraser), and tries to
persuade him to keep the club alive. Foggen refuses, but Gordon has
another idea. He starts visiting the players from the great 1922 team,
reassembling them for the last match. The day of the match it looks bad
for Barnstoneworth. They have only four players (and three pairs of
shorts), whereas the captain of the Denley Moor team is the famous Eric
Olthwaite. At the last minute, Gordon arrives with the old team, who
defeat Denley Moor 8-1. Gordon arrives home and the family smashes the
furniture together in happiness. Eileen joins in, throwing the clock at
Gordon, who tries to "head" it like a football. The episode ends on a
freeze-frame of him heading the clock, as Eileen is heard saying,
"Gordon? Gordon?".