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In the current conflict in the UK Labour Party, some are using the phrase Chicken Coup:

Morning Star: Chicken Coup rebels are running out of room

David Graeber in The Guardian: As the rolling catastrophe of what’s already being called the “chicken coup” against the Labour leadership winds down,...

Weblog “Another angry voice”: The failed "chicken coup" demonstrates that the Blairites aren't even good at the stuff they used to be.

A Chicken coop is a building where female chickens are kept. A Coup d`état is the illegal and overt seizure of a state by the military or other elites within the state apparatus.

I can understand why Corbyn supporters may choose to use the word “Coup”, but why “Chicken coup”?

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  • It seems to me a derogatory pun. "Chicken" where I come from is a taunt issued to cowards.
    – Al Maki
    Commented Jul 5, 2016 at 17:13
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    Presumably Corbyn supporters also wish to suggest that opponents who want him to stand down, but are not mounting a formal leadership challenge, are chicken. Is this actually being used other than in propaganda (a proper gander presumably being the opposite of a chicken here?)
    – Tim Lymington
    Commented Jul 5, 2016 at 17:14
  • @TimLymington In the original meaning, of course it is propaganda — clearly the choice to describe the rebellion in the Parliamentary Labour Party as a “coup” aims to influence the opinions of whoever reads it, which means it is by definition propaganda. However the word propaganda itself has become pejorative, and perhaps choosing to use the word propaganda is itself an act of propaganda? I haven't seen it used in any articles that weren't explicitly opinionated, if that answers your question.
    – gerrit
    Commented Jul 5, 2016 at 17:46

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According to Mike Sivier's blog:

The rebellion in the Parliamentary Labour Party has been labelled the #ChickenCoup on social media because, while its members are trying to mount a coup against Mr Corbyn, they are afraid of revealing their treachery to members of their own constituency parties, who support the Labour leader.

and coup I assume means both coup d'état and implies perhaps that Westminster is somewhat like a chicken-coop where MPs behave like (stupid) chickens.

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  • Given that the motion of "no confidence" in Jeremy Corbyn was passed by a vote of 176 to 40 among Labour MPs, and that the names of all the MPs voting for and against are publicly known, I fail to see how they are "afraid of revealing their treachery".
    – WS2
    Commented Jul 5, 2016 at 17:59
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    @ws2 Some MPs went public but it was a secret ballot so perhaps some MPs voted against Corbyn surreptitiously "The party’s parliamentarians voted 172 to 40 against Mr Corbyn’s leadership in a secret ballot on Tuesday afternoon. There were four spoilt ballots in the contest, while 13 MPs did not vote." independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/…
    – k1eran
    Commented Jul 5, 2016 at 18:18
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    Fowl play is suspected.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jul 5, 2016 at 18:53
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The "Red Flag" is a traditional song of the Labour Movement. It contains the lines "Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer" A synonym for coward is chicken. A bunch of "sneering" cowards launch a coup. It is, therefore, a chicken coup.

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  • Are not the Corbyn supporters rather like the Brexit voters - namely "turkeys voting for Christmas"!
    – WS2
    Commented Jul 5, 2016 at 22:44
  • Nothing to do with "Corbyn supporters." If you can't understand that you will not be able to grasp the importance of resisting the "chicken coup."
    – Hashtag
    Commented Jul 6, 2016 at 8:44

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