How the Labour left must change if it is to help the party win

To win back socially conservative voters, the party doesn’t just need a new policy agenda – it needs a new activist culture.

By Paul Mason

DURHAM, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 23: Sir Keir Starmer, Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union addresses the audience during the Labour Party Leadership hustings at the Radisson Blu Hotel on February 23, 2020 in Durham, England. Sir Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy are vying to replace Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who offered to step down following his party's loss in the December 2019 general election. The final ballot will open to party members and registered and affiliated supporters on February 24. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

The Labour Together report on the 2019 election debacle was professional, tough and thorough – but it still minced its words. So before we move on, it would be better to spell out the conclusions shorn of euphemism.

Labour faces the long-term and strategic fragmentation of its voting base. But it went into the election with a leadership that refused to recognise that fact. All the evidence of incompetence, disorganisation and factionalism revealed in the report stems from this essentially political problem.