I. Premise
Zack Beauchamp clearly established this as the proper test:
“The reason we are losing ground to the right today is because the message of what socialism is and what it can achieve in people’s daily lives has been steadily diluted,” Corbyn said in a March 2016 speech. “Unless progressive parties and movements break with that failed economic and political establishment it is the siren voices of the populist far-right that will fill the gap.”
Corbyn’s year-plus of Labour leadership has been something of a test case for this theory. So far, it has failed utterly.
II. Fact
In the 2017 election, Jeremy Corbyn’s party stunned the world by picking up 30 seats, and increasing its vote share by 9.5 points.
III. Proof
- If Corbyn does well, then that proves the theory that leftist economic populism can reverse the trend of losing ground to the right (Beauchamp 2017).
- Corbyn did well (BBC 2017).
- Therefore, leftist economic populism can reverse the trend of losing ground to the right.