In Jeremy Corbyn, Labour has elected its most left-wing leader in the post-war period with nearly 60 per cent of the vote. For all the talk of solidarity across the movement, Corbyn's victory asks serious questions of the wider Labour movement. Is this a single movement, or is Corbyn the leader of a faction, one of many on the left? Here are the five issues Corbyn must address immediately
1. Will the trade unions who have disaffiliated from the Labour Party, re-affiliate?
The RMT and FBU disaffiliated under Tony Blair's leadership of the party. The PCS is not affiliated. Now they have a left-wing leader will they go to their members and national executives and make the case for reaffiliation? Labour needs the money.
2. Will the trade unions and wider left make the case for the Labour Party in Scotland?
Trade unions failed to help Labour make the case for the Union during the independence referendum. Now that the Labour Party is genuinely to the left of the SNP, will the trade unions and wider Labour movement make the case for the Union and take on the nationalism of the SNP? Will left-leading Scottish voters come back to Labour during the Scottish Parliament elections? Corbyn's supporters told us only Jeremy can take on the SNP.
3. Will the wider left, including the Green Party and TUSC campaign for a Labour victory in the next general election?
Labour is likely to have the same green credentials and redistributive policies as the Green Party and TUSC, and is the only party of the three to be in a position to win the 2020 general election. Will the members of these parties, and those who joined Labour to back Corbyn, actually display the same passion as the hated Blairites (like me) in going out on the doorstep to actively campaign for Labour candidates?
4. Now you have captured the Labour Party and have the leader you desire, will you stop the ad hominem attacks?
The appalling attacks on Liz Kendall during the campaign showed a Labour movement unwilling to challenge open misogny, and nastiness. Meanwhile, open and covert anti-Semitism also reared its head. Will Jeremy Corbyn take on his supporters who behave in such a way. A number of trade union leaders believe that Progress, a group I am a member of, should be expelled from its affiliation with Labour. Will Corbyn draw a line in the sand on the issue and reach out to Progress and its members?
5. How much do you really care about diversity?
Labour has elected three men to the positions of party leader, deputy leader and candidate for Mayor of London. Men dominate the top positions in the trade union movement. Consistently, BAME voters say immigration is a real concern to their families and show strong support for an entrepreneurial society. If the Labour movement cares about diversity, how much is it willing to change in order to actively promote it?
For years the broader union movement has argued that a fraction New Labour – had captured the Labour Party against the wishes of the Labour movement. Now Labour has a left-wing leader, the movement has the chance to display its solidarity. If it doesn't, the scepticism of many Labour members (myself included) at either the capacity of the Labour movement to mobilise, the veneration of the union link, and the usefulness of those on the left who turned their backs on Labour after the election of Tony Blair as leader, will be vindicated.
