The far left have ridden the social media wave. Will it prove to be their downfall?

The speed at which the hard left seized control of the Labour Party in 2015 took many by surprise. In one summer of madness, an unlikely veteran backbencher went from near-forgotten has-been to happening hero.

Social media played an important part in spreading Corbyn’s message and supercharged the pace of the initially preposterous, yet ultimately remarkable, coup.

Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, activists in groups such as Militant and Labour Briefing would work tirelessly and painstakingly to control branches and constituencies, aiming to advance the revolution one resolution at a time. 

Fast forward to the 21^st century and the takeover was achieved in just a few months, in no small part due to shared posts and viral memes. Many of the people involved in turning the Labour Party upside down three years ago had never attended a meeting and advanced Corbyn’s cause from the comfort of their front room.

In this way, social media is the amphetamine of modern politics. It supercharges campaigns. But it can also lead to dramatic decline and disaster.

My hunch is that Corbyn’s decline may be as rapid as his ascension. And although the wheels haven’t yet come off the Momentum bus, we’re seeing signs that bad news for the leftists can spread as fast the good tidings. As Shakespeare poetically put it in Hamlet: "For tis the sport to have the enginer Hoist with his owne petar…”

Let’s start with the most recent example.

The February National Policy Forum turned into a bunfight, with accusations of bullying and much controversy over a cancelled election. Unite Leader Len McCluskey – a man with the subtlety and political perspicacity of a steam engine – euphemistically described it as being ‘feisty’. Which naturally he saw as a positive.

It all sounded very familiar. Much like a lot of meetings I might have attended in the 1980s myself, but with one important difference. Reports of the rancour and video footage of the event were uploaded to Twitter and Facebook quicker than you can say Absolute Boy. So the tactics of the Corbynites were exposed instantly.

What about Haringey? You’ll remember that the London borough is set to elect a leftist council in May after an adventurous housing project was used as stick to beat and unseat sitting moderates. It’s been a story that has been much debated in what Corbynistas would describe as the ‘mainstream’ media, but it’s raged over social media too. What’s fascinating is that we already have a sense of what the Momentum Council will be like. The histrionics are played out in real time in tweets in advance of the election. The mask has already slipped and news travels at lightning speed.

And Momentum itself is getting a bit careless in its use of the social platforms that have been such a mainstay of its growth. In a recent video, they sing the praises of Tony Benn, who is described as the ‘spearhead’ of a movement for Labour Party democracy and an ‘educator and keeper of socialists’.

Benn, of course, is actually remembered as the most divisive figure in Labour politics in the second half of the twentieth century, promoting the hard-left agenda in the late 70s and early 80s that led to the formation of the SDP. Until recently, the Corbyn crowd had been keen to distance themselves from this legacy and would laugh off any attempt to paint them as a resurrected version of the Bennite left. Now, they feel emboldened. And the bolder they become, the more their true face will be revealed.

Allegations about Corbyn, McDonnell and Livingstone in the traditional right-wing press will probably do little to damage the Jezuit movement. The faithful will rage against the media and ridicule the source. In many ways, it becomes a rallying point for Labour members and supporters, who are broadly supportive of Corbyn. But when the supposed champions of ‘democracy’ leading the party are revealed to preside over undemocratic practices – and the drama is played out in realtime on people’s tablets and mobiles – that’s when the shine starts to wear off.

With Labour faltering in the polls and just a few months to go until some important local elections, the Corbynistas have every reason to feel a little edgy. The fall may be just as precipitous as the original steep climb.