Facebook and Twitter are abuzz over Jeremy Corbyn’s candidacy for leader of the British Labour Party, with his nomination (securing the backing of thirty-six of his parliamentary colleagues) seen as a breakthrough for the Left. The kindly Islington North member of parliament (MP) seemed as surprised as anyone by his nomination, though it must also be said that his victory owed principally to Labour machine politics and the calculations of his opponents lending him support.

For Andy Burnham, for example, it is useful to have Corbyn as a foil, a real socialist to position himself against so that he himself should not be seen as the most left-wing candidate in the race. The media has already been quick to paint Burnham as Len McCluskey’s man, continuing their previous attack on former Labour leader Ed Miliband as reliant on trade union patronage.

It is scarcely credible that grassroots pressure played any significant role in getting Corbyn on the ballot paper, any more than in the case of Diane Abbott in 2010, whose nomination owed to transfers from David Miliband, then the most right-wing candidate. Indeed, close to half of the MPs nominating Corbyn openly stated that they do not support his candidacy, and just wanted to see a “real debate” (in other words: to see the Left openly confronted and defeated).