Tragic turn of events: A few days before the British election, Labour leader Corbyn has managed to close the gap on May’s Conservatives – until he makes a gaffe.<\/p>\n
Not knowing something is absolutely understandable and is also accepted by journalists. You should only be able to handle it professionally and confidently. Corbyn would certainly have come out of this situation differently had he acted differently.<\/p>\n
The morning after the big televised debate, Jeremy Corbyn suffered what he had managed to avoid the night before: a lapse, a moment of great embarrassment that has the power to change majorities. When the Labour leader was asked on a radio program about the cost of his childcare program, which he planned to unveil on Tuesday, he couldn’t think of the figure: “It will, uh, it will obviously cost a lot.” Yes, but how much, the presenter followed up. “I’ll tell you in a minute,” he stammered. The moderator held that he was looking in his iPad right now. Corbyn said, “Can we come back to this later?” To which the moderator countered that if the opposition leader couldn’t quantify one of his key campaign promises, it would be “not very inspiring for voters.” Finally, she humiliated him further with the numbers, asking if they sounded “about correct” to his ears. “It sounds correct,” Corbyn replied wanly.<\/p>\n
“Was this the moment that destroyed Labour’s already slim chances?” asks the FAZ today.<\/p>\n
Corbyn, who started out a few weeks ago as a hopeless outsider and was portrayed by most commentators as unelectable, did well. In the end, however, it was not enough to win the election.<\/p>\n