The Labour Party claims to be learning lessons from its crushing defeat in December’s general election. But are they the right ones?
While some have been moving through the stages of grief more slowly than others, the party has generally woken up to the reality that something’s gotta give. But it’s not yet obvious that the right lessons have been learned in the upper echelons of Labour – not even by some of the MPs putting themselves forward to be the next leader.
Yes, the party faithful are shifting their focus back to northern and rural communities, whose decision to vote blue this time around turned decades’ worth of electoral voting patterns on their head. The first Labour hustings revealed some agreement that the election manifesto was flawed. MP for Wigan Lisa Nandy has gained notable traction by putting the spotlight on less affluent regions and their genuine plights (bus routes, diminishing jobs); even in an uphill battle for support from a party membership still characterised by Corbynista frenzy, her talking points are having some cut-through.
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