In 40 years of campaigning, I have never known a Labour leader’s name come up on the doorstep in the way the prime minister’s did at these elections – the damage he is doing to our special party is unforgivable, says Labour MP Kate Osborne.
Labour's Heartland Losses
Now that all the results are in, we know Labour lost nearly 1,500 local councillors, including some truly excellent local politicians and community activists. In the North East we lost heartlands that even three years ago I would never have dreamed Labour would lose: Sunderland, Gateshead and South Tyneside. I have lived in Tyneside for 36 years, seven years as an MP and ten years as a Labour councillor in North Tyneside before that. Never have I felt so much anger on the doorstep. It is no exaggeration to say that Keir Starmer's name came up on the doorstep more than any other Labour leader in the 40-odd years I have been knocking on doors.
Yet this result was not a shock. We saw this coming from last year's local results. I heard it from constituents and on the doorsteps when I have been out. These results tell us once again that people are disillusioned and not happy with Labour.
Failures of Leadership
Locally, I know I've delivered for the community, and there are some good things we are delivering nationally. But there have been too many mistakes. People have been let down, and they're not seeing change quick enough, and that is why we are where we are. Many of my colleagues and I have been trying to get the current Labour Leadership to listen and change direction, but they have refused. The newly elected Reform councillors are going to have a steep learning curve and need to actually now deliver for residents instead of stoking hate from the sidelines.
But those at the top of our party need to also take stock and responsibility for where their actions have led us. The direction Keir has taken the Labour Party has not only seen us lose councils and councillors who are delivering for the local people, but it is also destroying the Labour Party.
Policy Betrayals
They need to accept these losses are because of the choices they have made, from winter fuel, to Waspi women, to attacks on welfare, to attacks on the LGBTQ community to Gaza. People no longer believe Keir – and therefore Labour – are on their side. And why would they? 18 months in, they have been let down too many times. Of course, that’s before we even get on to the scandals of Peter Mandelson, Matthew Doyle and Morgan McSweeney.
Other voters eventually forgive their parties for their incompetence, as with the Tories and Covid, or policy betrayals, like the Lib Dems in coalition government. That’s because other voters usually vote along lines of personal interest. Labour was always different. We gave people hope that another world is possible. We stood up for ordinary workers, for the most vulnerable and against big business. We ensured people who didn’t usually have a voice were heard. This current leadership has not and is not doing that.
Consequences for Labour
When Labour lets the electorate down in the way we currently are, it is because the top of the Labour Party is betraying Labour values. Labour members won’t forgive that, and they have been leaving the party steadily. If we do not change direction now we will never win them back.
We also need to make sure that the correct lessons are learnt from these results. In my constituency of Jarrow and Gateshead East, I cover two local authorities. Last year we lost ten Labour councillors. This year we lost a further 32. In my parts of Gateshead and South Tyneside we now have one – just one – Labour councillor left. Labour had held these councils for 50 years. Reform are now in control of what were once our heartlands.
However, it is too simplistic to say nationally Labour lost to Reform. The evidence shows that for every 10 voters Labour loses to the right, we lose 16 to parties to our left. We must stop betraying our roots and chasing after right wing voters.
The Path Forward
If we do not urgently change, the Labour Party of the NHS, of the workers, our Labour movement as we know it will be irreparably damaged.
When I was elected in 2019 the Labour Party had been damaged by McSweeney, Keir and the clique at the top of the Labour Party. It had gone from being the largest political party in Europe to an organisation that refused debate, that drove people away and our membership had halved. Fast forward seven years and Labour membership is a shell of what it once was, constituency Labour parties (CLPs) ignored, members disenfranchised and dissent not allowed.
We have a victory in the last general election that has been wasted, a majority in parliament that has not been used effectively for the good of the many, and a leadership whose time is truly up.
Keir knows he will not lead the party into next year’s local elections let alone the next general election. So for the good of the party he should set out when he will go now and announce a clear timetable for his departure.
Kate Osborne is Labour MP for Jarrow and Gateshead East
