the former. lingering damage afflicting the host body still long after the disease / the politician has been expunged."Long Corbyn"? Are they stretching for a ridiculous "long covid" analogy, or do they really mean to give him a gangster nickname?
it's not a phrase Maguire has coined there. I can remember usage back all the way in 2020. for as long as long covid has been a thing.
this is the earliest I found just now “Long Corbyn” haunts Labour | TheArticle
it seems like a concerted effort to make the "long-" prefix the 21st answer to the "-gate" suffix for lazy political label over applied.
see e.g. The Tory party is suffering from Long Cameron
I don't much like it.