It would be very easy to caricature the new members Labour has gathered up since 2015. Many traditional commentators – such as writers for The Economist – have continuously portrayed the surge of enthusiasm for Jeremy Corbyn among Labour members as something from beyond politics’ normal bounds, contrasting “energized” young Corbynites with the “dark” and depressed mood of MPs (The Economist 2016). Part fringe pressure group, part student activism and part political suicide mission, the fervour and emotional commitment of many of Corbyn's supporters has been displayed in so many unflattering ways that it is hard to winnow the reality from the fantasy. Labour's deputy leader, Tom Watson, talked of the left-wing pressure group Momentum as if it was formed of far-left infiltrators leading on young people who lacked the experience to see what was really happening (Stewart 2016). Momentum's own internal battles, fought out between insurgents stressing their participatory politics and more established leftists, have helped to reinforce the impression of forces entering Labour from “outside” in an attempt to take it over, while the angry and often unpleasant rhetoric deployed by a small number of Corbynites on social media has also poisoned the atmosphere (Murray 2016). All in all, the general public has been treated to analysis that characterizes the average Corbyn supporter in three ways: young, very left-wing and extremely angry.

But is this picture the right one? It seems, from what evidence we have, that it is somewhat wide of the mark. Although students, young people and (now ex-) members of small parties such as the Socialist Party have all indeed helped shape the story, the reality of Labour's new membership is somewhat more prosaic. Older, better educated and more politically experienced than they have been painted, Corbynites are just as likely to be Labour returnees who left during the years since Neil Kinnock became leader and the party made its move towards the political centre; Peter Mandelson rather derisively termed them “retreaded Old Labourites” in a memorandum circulated to Labour centrists soon after Corbyn's leadership victory in 2015 (Mandelson 2015).