Brexit Divides Almost Killed the Labour Party — But the Left Can Rebuild
A new report on Labour's defeat highlights the damage caused by its Brexit stance, exposing the decades-long weakening of its roots in the working class. There’s no quick fix to Labour’s problems — we need to do the long work of rebuilding the structures that tie our MPs to working-class life.
Jeremy Corbyn at a Labour Party rally on December 9, 2019 in Bristol, England. (Flickr)
As the exit poll foretold the unfolding disaster, it seemed that Big Ben’s bells had barely finished chiming before some elements of the Labour Party were on the airwaves explaining why it had happened. Few acknowledged their own part in the historic defeat. This was a catastrophic defeat for the Labour Party — but after coming so close in 2017, what had gone wrong?
The Labour Together report as published on Friday sets out its assessment on this question. Unsurprisingly, it highlights three main issues: the party leadership, chaotic election messaging, and Brexit. It makes clear that Brexit was central in 2019, but as a catalyst for long-term trends.
If much of this seems familiar, that’s because it is. In the summer of 2019 with the election not even a twinkle in the eye, along with the then-MP for Crewe and Nantwich, Laura Smith, we produced “Northern Discomfort.” Our analysis highlighted the bleeding away of Labour’s working-class support and the ever-increasing feeling in our heartlands that we were distant and metropolitan, a party of authoritarian liberalism.
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