As a Labour party member, I agree with the thrust of the review into its defeat last December and the way forward (Labour: dysfunctional ‘toxic culture’ led to defeat, major report finds, 19 June). Over the course of the campaign I was out most nights canvassing and it became clear that Labour was heading for a heavy defeat. I encountered swathes of socially conservative Labour voters who would not back Jeremy Corbyn. The most telling factor was the lack of swing voters who would not back Labour even though they disliked the Tories. I did not come across any Liberal Democrat voters prepared to vote tactically to unseat my local Tory MP in York Outer, where Labour had the best chance of winning.
Some fellow party members may not like this, but Tony Blair is right: you can only win from the centre. That means building a coalition of voters in cities and towns centred around trust, fairness, economic renewal and opportunity. We need to show that we understand our socially conservative voters and not sneer at them when they wave the union flag or St George’s cross. That means being clear where we stand on major issues such as Black Lives Matter without being sucked into culture wars that we cannot win. Labour indeed has a mountain to climb, but it is not insurmountable.
Steve Flatley
York
• The Labour Together report tells us things that members knew, but chose to ignore. Despite sustained disloyalty by many MPs throughout Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, ordinary members remained remarkably loyal to a leader who could at best be described as divisive. I know I am not alone in having returned to the party following his election to the leadership, buoyed up by the prospect of a return to the “old-time religion”. I had only ever expected Corbyn to be a transitional leader, making way for someone less weighed down by a political life spent on the periphery.
Underwhelming performances in a number of settings were given a free pass because he had delivered a better-than-expected result against a lacklustre Tory campaign in 2017.
Many of us felt that the manifesto was suited to the challenging pre-pandemic times. But members’ loyalty was sorely tested when new pledges were added on a daily basis, making it difficult to defend charges of fantasy politics. I voted for Keir Starmer in the hope that he would be inheriting a party that is better placed to absorb the learning from four defeats while retaining the essential characteristics of a centre-left party. Fingers crossed!
Les Bright
Exeter
• Labour Together’s analysis misses one toxic issue – the party’s belief that it can win an outright victory on its own. With the slightest relaxation of that refusal to collaborate, Labour would be in power today. For example, in 2017 the Green vote in 12 seats was greater than the Tory majority, keeping Labour out.
Similarly, there were a number of seats where the Labour vote was keeping the Tories in, at the expense of the Greens. Many Labour MPs and members argued for a collaboration then, and in 2019, but it was rejected by the leadership. If the progressive parties had worked together, it seems probable that Labour would have won an overall majority, even with first past the post.
Charles Harris
London
• Your article lists 10 reasons for Corbyn’s defeat in 2019, (Report, 18 June) and not one of them the role the print media played?
Mark Goodall
Whitby, North Yorkshire
