publications
Progressive Futures

Can Labour win?

9 September 2015

The Hard Road to Power

Authors
Patrick Diamond
Author
Giles Radice
Author

After its disastrous defeat in 2015, Labour is at risk of throwing away the next general election. Why did it suffer such a devastating loss of support and can it learn crucial lessons in order to recover the trust of voters?

The reasons for defeat appear obvious enough: the British public did not believe that Ed Miliband was a credible prime minister; people feared that a Labour government would plunge the British economy back into chaos and they perceived that the party was out of touch on issues like immigration and welfare. As of today, there are few signs that the party grasps why it lost and, in particular, why swing voters in marginal seats were not prepared to vote Labour.

This book examines why Labour so overwhelmingly lost the trust of voters, and crucially how the party can win them back – charting Labour’s hard road to power. Exploring exclusive polling data alongside qualitative research that delves into public perceptions of each party, it shows how the Labour party must change in order to avoid further electoral defeat and the risk of permanent irrelevance.

Photo credit: DrimaFilm / Shutterstock.com

Authors