Will Jeremy Corbyn be the death of Labour?

Over the weekend, Jeremy Corbyn took control as the new leader of the Labour party. A landslide victory to the North Islington MP prompted chants of “Jez we can” and the leader of the UK’s official opposition duly celebrated down the pub with a rendition of socialist anthem ‘The Red Flag’.

In the wake of the announcement though, a slew of high-ranking MPs hastily announced their resignations from the shadow cabinet and refused to serve under the proclaimed hard-left leader. Among the casualties were party stars, Chuka Umunna, Liz Kendall and Yvette Cooper, the latter of whom were crushingly defeated in the wake of Corbyn-mania.

Lord Mandelson, one of the prime movers of New Labour, has said: “Labour is facing the fight of its life to remain a viable party of government.” Former shadow health minister, Jamie Reed, damningly warned, as he resigned his post, that Corbyn’s anti-nuclear policies were “poorly informed and fundamentally wrong,” also adding, “No amount of well-meaning protest will protect the NHS, drive up standards, recruit more medical professionals or improve the accessibility of world-class healthcare to the British people. Only an elected Labour government will do this.”

Whilst unnamed senior Labour members have branded the new administration’s election as “a f***ing disaster”, per the Daily Mail.

Despite this, more than 15,000 new members signed up to Labour within 24 hours of Corbyn’s champagne moment and Diane Abbot, a key party personality, threw her support behind him: “Tony Blair isn’t always right. The truth is, harnessing all the energy of all those young people – and older members who’ve returned to us – I believe the Labour party’s going to go forward and win in 2020.”

Support for Corbyn has also sailed over from across the pond. Bernie Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate, said in a statement emailed to The Huffington Post: “At a time of mass income and wealth inequality throughout the world, I am delighted to see that the British Labour Party has elected Jeremy Corbyn as its new leader. We need leadership in every country in the world which tells the billionaire class that they cannot have it all. We need economies that work for working families, not just the people on top.”

But the question remains, will Corbyn’s appointment inspire a new generation of Labour voters come 2020? Or end the party as a political force?