LONDON ¨C It¡¯s tempting to ignore the Labour Party¡¯s leadership contest. Like a roadside accident, it almost seems indecent to look too closely and you have other places to be. Yet it¡¯s worth slowing down to take stock.
Opposition parties in democracies aren¡¯t some superfluous accessory. They hold the governing party to account, call attention to issues the government may overlook and promote the healthy competition of ideas. Britain¡¯s House of Commons is designed with opposing benches precisely to underscore that battle. It doesn¡¯t work if one set of benches is slouching toward oblivion.
Labour¡¯s job has become a lot more difficult after three straight election defeats. The party¡¯s first order of business as it selects a new leader is to decide why it lost so badly to Prime Minister Boris Johnson¡¯s Conservatives in December. But the campaign so far has been an exercise in avoidance, and the polarizing figure of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn haunts the process.
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