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Category: Labour

Len McCluskey thinks LAB could be in government after GE2020 – a pipe dream or a possibility?

Len McCluskey thinks LAB could be in government after GE2020 – a pipe dream or a possibility?

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Don Brind on where the UNITE boss is right and where wrong Len McCluskey is right. Labour could be back in government as a result of the 2020 General Election. I agree with the Unite leader that while there’s little chance of Labour winning the election there’s a decent chance that the Tories will lose it. McCluskey is rather more emphatic than me: “ I don’t think the Tories will win the next election. They might be the largest party…

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The search for the answer to Labour’s woes

The search for the answer to Labour’s woes

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What happens when the focus is on “knocking on doors” John Prescott’s view that Jeremy Corbyn and his top team are “not up to the f***ing job” which earned him a “potty mouth Prescott” headline  in the Mail on Sunday won’t have come as surprise to the Labour leader. I understand that the former deputy Prime Minister has said as much to Corbyn’s face. “You’re not a leader and you never will be while you’ve got a hole in your…

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If Corbyn continues he’ll be remembered as the selfish bed-blocker who put himself ahead of LAB’s survival

If Corbyn continues he’ll be remembered as the selfish bed-blocker who put himself ahead of LAB’s survival

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Front cover of latest edition of Prospect The polls/leader ratings, by-elections and the locals all pointing in one direction My heading and the front cover of the latest Prospect might appear harsh but how else can you describe Labour’s predicament? It has a leader who is electorally toxic who is kept in place by a party membership that remains broadly supportive. Certainly if there was another leadership election and Corbyn stood it is hard to see how he could be…

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Labour’s Achilles heel in Manchester Gorton is its faction-ridden local party

Labour’s Achilles heel in Manchester Gorton is its faction-ridden local party

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The by-election selection battle could be bloody A few days ago there was an excellent piece in the Manchester Evening News about Gorton constituency Labour party and the ongoing fights within it between the warring factions. It has been so bad that it has effectively been under special measures for well over a decade and the choice of who’ll take over what appears to be a totally safe seat will bring this out into the open. “Last year a mammoth…

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Support for Corbyn is weakening among Labour members. Don’t assume a Corbynite replaces him.

Support for Corbyn is weakening among Labour members. Don’t assume a Corbynite replaces him.

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Corbyn is safe for now argues Keiran Pedley but with his popularity among Labour members falling and Brexit on the horizon he is unlikely to lead Labour into a General Election. Those of you watching Peston yesterday will know that YouGov has a new poll of Labour members out courtesy of Ian Warren of Election Data. 1,096 Labour members were interviewed last week (27 Feb – 3 Mar) and here are some of the key numbers. The first notable data…

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POLL ALERT: Labour has a ‘Corbyn problem’ and it’s not going away

POLL ALERT: Labour has a ‘Corbyn problem’ and it’s not going away

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Two-thirds of voters think he’s the wrong person to lead Labour into a General Election A new Polling Matters / Opinium survey, taken before the Copeland and Stoke by-elections, shows that voters think Corbyn is the wrong person to lead Labour into a General Election, with those considering voting Labour more likely to do so if he is replaced. Keiran Pedley explains. In the latest of a series of surveys for the Polling Matters podcast, Opinium asked three questions of…

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The dark cloud on Labour’s horizon: total wipeout

The dark cloud on Labour’s horizon: total wipeout

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Just where is Labour’s floor for 2020? One of the best political tips of the 2015 general election was to back Labour for 0-5 seats in Scotland. When William Hill first put the market up – after the independence referendum – they marked that outcome at no less than 125/1. (I apologise for not being able to namecheck the PBer who tipped the bet; I forget who it was.) That price was a testament to the inertia of thinking as…

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Brexit: We wuz robbed but is Tony the one to stop it.

Brexit: We wuz robbed but is Tony the one to stop it.

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Don Brind on the Blair intervention Like many 48 per centers I believe last year’s referendum victory for Leave was built on a mountain of mendacity, epitomised by that bus promising £350 million for the NHS. So it was good to hear Tony Blair declare, in his speech to Open Britain last week, that Brexit “will not mean more money for the NHS but less; actually it probably means a wholesale rebalancing of our healthcare towards one based on private…

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