Despite everything, I still think the Labour Party is the only game in town if you think parliamentary politics is worth bothering with at all (I can sympathise with those who say it isn't, tbf. And certainly, either way, it is not the be all and end all). There was obviously some shifts in local parties over the last few years when you look at some of the candidates that got selected and then won, ie Kate Osamor replacing arch Blarite Andy Love in Edmonton. And most of the Japanese holdouts aka McDonnell, Hopkins and Corbyn retained their seats. Often with increased majorities that bucked the national and even local trend. As for the left of Labour alternatives, there is either nothing to stop them going the same way as Labour under the same pressure (the Greens, Left Unity) or just ending up being tightly controlled by democratic centralist parties who still take their cue from the 1917 failed experiment. The only thing that might work would be the likes of Corbyn, McDonnell leading a parliamentary split taking the trade unions with them etc. The arguments against that are fairly well worn though. From a parliamentary perspective, it is bleak outside, it is bleak inside... take your pick!
