New year, new start? Not for Labour. The party’s 2017 has got off to a bad start with the publication of a sobering report on its election prospects for 2020. The Fabian Society predicts that Labour will win less than 20pc of the vote and just 150 seats (to put this into context, Labour has not won fewer than 200 seats since 1935). The thinktank concludes that the party’s only real hope is to work with other ‘progressive’ forces, like the SNP and Greens.
Now none of this is hugely surprising. Labour’s poll ratings have been hitting new lows for some time now. But the Fabian Society is a Labour thinktank and its report is a sign that it is becoming a widely-accepted truth that the party is on a path to electoral disaster. Even Corbyn’s closest allies — from Diane Abbott to Len McCluskey — have made comments of late suggesting the Labour leader must turn things around or go.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in