He has already defied conventional political wisdom. With support from his own MPs, he can do the same on the national stage

The timing was unforgiving. To go straight from the most dramatic insurgent party election in Britain’s political history into a traditional seaside party conference was always going to be a bit like jumping off a moving train. But despite the rocky first days of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and the dire warnings of disaster, Labour’s Brighton jamboree defied expectations.

There was no meltdown. The disinherited Blairites and their media cheerleaders continued to run around like headless chickens insisting what had happened was the most terrible mistake. But the caravan moved on regardless. Labour has emerged from its extraordinary upheaval as an unambiguously anti-austerity party. The breakdown of European politics triggered by the crash of 2008 has now reached the whole of Britain. There is, it turns out, an alternative after all.

On austerity and the economy at least, Corbyn and McDonnell have won majority support among their MPs

The risk of an early attempted coup has receded, but the gap between Corbyn and most of his MPs is stark

Related: Seven final thoughts on the Labour party conference | Gaby Hinsliff, Jonathan Freedland, John Harris, Matthew d’Ancona, Owen Jones, Rafael Behr, Martin Kettle

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