Shaun Soper blames the Labour party’s general election losses of 2017 and 2019 on Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell (Letters, 30 May).
With regard to the 2017 election, surveys found that the manifesto met with wide approval from the electorate. In terms of the ensuing loss, the independent Forde report (2020), commissioned by Labour, provided compelling evidence that the deep factionalism in the party between pro- and anti-Corbynites during the election campaign became a major hindrance to making a Labour-led government feasible.
Surely all members of the party who were involved in the factionalism during the campaign need to take responsibility for allowing the Conservatives to form a minority government to impose their baleful policies on the country.
John Maher
Liverpool
• Shaun Soper sharply reminds John McDonnell that he and Corbyn lost two elections. Yet in 2017 Labour won 12,877,918 votes (a 40% share), whereas Keir Starmer won in a landslide with 9,708,716 (33.7%).
Geoff Booth
Knebworth, Hertfordshire
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