Following a pretty terrible General Election result for Labour, the party is now in the process of selecting a new leader. We decided to reach out to Medway councillors from all parties to ask them where they think it went wrong for Labour, and who should take control going forwards.
As usual, we told all of them that we would publish their responses unedited. You can find them below in the order they were received.
1. What do you see as the causes for Labour’s poor performance in Medway during in the 2019 General Election?
I think an effective and credible opposition is in the country’s interest. Labour’s issues are many but include lack of effective leadership, a confused Brexit stance, absurd spending proposals, but above all lacking in credibility across the spectrum.
Cllr Stuart Tranter, Conservative, Rochester West
A mixture of several issues
1) Leadership of Jeremy Corbyn – polling indicated an incredibly unpopular with public in terms of personal ratings and leadership capabilities.
2) Neutrality position of Brexit – failing to fix Labour’s position starting with a lack of position early enough to the Momentum-led conference fudge. Position of neutrality failed the doorstep test.
3) Organisational failure – internal introspection and obsession over internal democratisation led to massive gaps in basic organisational management including selection of PPCs in many areas that were then imposed after election date called.
4) Anti-Jewish prejudice and the lack of action in managing the issue leading to EHRC investigation.
5) Affiliate damage – allowing surrogates to speak for Party including key platforms for friends of Momentum that were on wrong page on cultural issues such as scrapping the Red Poppy and opposing the Invicta games.
6) Media bias – a usual problem for all labour leaders once again the media tended to lean towards the Tories.
7) Tories had better funded campaign, a more popular leader, and a strategic campaign that had a consistent message around the most salient of issues
Cllr Tristan Osborne, Labour, Luton and Wayfield
2. Who do you think would be the best leader for the Labour Party going forwards?
I do not know who the best leader would be, and that is clearly a matter for them. But Jeremy without a beard is not the answer.
Cllr Stuart Tranter, Conservative, Rochester West
Keir Starmer
Cllr Tristan Osborne, Labour, Luton and Wayfield