PEOPLE’S PARTY IN CRISIS FAILURE
branded the results “c**p”, telling the Mirror: “It’s grim beyond belief but this does not come as a surprise at all. The outcome is still devastating. We’ve failed miserably and it’s a disaster zone.”
The frontbencher believed the results were worse than the shattering 2019 defeat under Jeremy Corbyn, Labour’s worst for 84 years. “The $64,000 question is, is this the bottom or is there further to go?”
Former Hartlepool MP Lord Peter Mandelson highlighted only one Labour leader has won a general election in decades. “Lose, lose, lose, lose, Blair, Blair, Blair, lose, lose, lose,” he said, forgetting a fourth, post-Blair election defeat. “We need for once in this party to learn the lessons of those victories, as well as those defeats.”
A senior Labour MP said: “The party needs to stop talking to itself and get out in the country.
“For too long we haven’t understood the British people or their hopes for our country. For too long we haven’t had anything to offer them. We either fix that right now or keep losing elections. It’s as simple as that.”
Former Shadow Chancellor John
McDonnell said Labour had tackled the by-election “almost policy-less”.
“We must never again send our candidates into an election campaign almost naked, without a policy programme, without a clear view on what sort of society you want to create,” he said.
Mr Corbyn tweeted: “With millions not voting, these results show a loss of hope. We must offer a bolder vision to transform people’s lives and give them the confidence to strive for a more equal world.”
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said the loss was “staggering and worrying”.
He added: “Disconnection from
our heartland communities will only deepen unless they can look at Labour and see a party with clear, bold policies that understands and speaks for them.”
Khalid Mahmood, an ex-shadow defence minister, lashed out at the “London-based bourgeoisie, with the support of brigades of woke social media warriors” that has “effectively captured the party”.
The Birmingham Perry Barr MP said former heartlands saw Labour as “a party that has lost its way”.
YV yourvoice@mirror.co.uk