Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been urged to show clarity over his Brexit policy by a Bristol MP in the wake of the party’s performance in the EU elections.
Bristol North West MP Darren Jones said efforts to unite voters for and against Brexit had led to the party picking up just a six per cent share of votes in the South West.
He urged Mr Corbyn to be “crystal clear” on Brexit and to support a so-called People’s Vote.
Labour deputy Tom Watson, shadow chancellor John McDonnell and shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer have all called for a shift in stance to back a second referendum over Mr Corbyn’s preference for a general election.
Mr Jones, elected two years ago, said: “It’s always disappointing when your team performs badly [at the EU election], but I can’t say that I’m surprised.
“Voters see through fence sitting and our position on Brexit wasn’t good enough.
“We should be crystal clear that we support the public having the final say on what happens next, with remaining in the EU being an option on the ballot paper.
“I, along with many colleagues, are pushing hard for the clarity to come sooner rather than later.”
On Mr Corbyn, he said: “Jeremy was trying to unite voters who voted to Leave and to Remain.
“But offering something to everyone made our message unclear and voters didn’t trust it. It’s an important lesson that doing what you think is best for the country is a better strategy than resting on election tactics alone.”
The results of the EU election saw Labour’s only South West MEP, Clare Moody, lose her seat.
Speaking on Monday, she said she was “deeply disappointed”.
She added: “From conversations on the doorsteps and looking at the results, it’s clear that voters - and even some of our members - have had enough of constructive ambiguity.
“If we are to avoid have more results like last night we need to adopt a clear Remain stance and fast.”
Picking up six per cent of the vote, the Labour party saw a swing of seven per cent fewer people supporting it from the last EU election in 2015.
The Conservatives also fared badly, picking up nine per cent of the vote in the South West.
The big winners were the Brexit Party, taking a 37 per cent share of the vote, the Lib Dems with 12 per cent and the Greens with seven per cent.
Mr Watson said: “We’ve lost many hundreds of thousands, if not millions of potential votes in that election [EU election] because we got it wrong.
“And the time is now to show some humility, to listen and to move very, very quickly.”
