The surreal strength of Jeremy Corbyn’s party

IF AN opposition MP were asked to come up with an ideal backdrop for the parliamentary recess, he would surely set out the month just endured by Theresa May. Two senior cabinet ministers resigned. Support for the prime minister’s Brexit plans dropped like a stone. Grassroots Tories started baying for her head. A tired government looked close to exhaustion.

Yet even as the government creaked, it was Labour that seemed the more likely to splinter. A row over anti-Semitism entered its most poisonous phase, with the shadow cabinet in open revolt against Jeremy Corbyn, Labour’s far-left leader. A summer meant to be spent discussing big ideas for a future Labour government and hammering Mrs May’s record has instead been overtaken by a bitter internal fight.

Despite it all, Labour still has a decent chance of forming the next government. None of its self-inflicted wounds is fatal and each has a potential fix. Its poll numbers, which at around 40% are slightly ahead of the Tories’, have...