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1 August 2016updated 26 Aug 2022 1:53pm

What does Blairite really mean? That depends who you ask.

If you're befuddled by leftie political terminology, you're not alone.  

By New Statesman

What on earth does Blairite mean? Depending on who you ask, a Blairite could be a supporter of Tony Blair, who wants to defend New Labour’s record of Sure Start centres, civil partnerships and, well, the only elected Labour government of the past several decades – or, it could be a warmongering, MSM-controlled neoliberal who prioritises a slick media operation over political integrity.

Things have got even more confusing in recent years. After the release of the Chilcot report, Owen Jones wrote that Blairites who want a political future “need to divorce themselves from Blair” – only to be called a “Blairite traitor” himself after publishing an in-depth analysis of the weaknesses of the Corbyn administration. There were even tongue-in-cheek headlines branding Corbyn a Blairite and comparing Seumas Milne with Alastair Campbell, even though “in Corbyn-land, Blair is a byword for Satan”.

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