After defeat, comes the recriminations. The bulk of council seats are still yet to declare but already the blame game within Labour has started after the loss of their Runcorn safe seat. A handful of MPs on the left of the party have started publicly demanding a change of direction by the government. Richard Burgon says ministers ‘must urgently change course’ by ditching disability benefit cuts and introducing a wealth tax. Diane Abbott remarks it has been a ‘disastrous night’ for Keir Starmer; Kim Johnson claims that only ‘bold hopeful policies’ can defeat ‘the far right.’ It is a sentiment echoed by Brian Leishman who reflects that ‘the first ten months haven’t been good enough.’
Many within Labour will regard these criticisms as little more than the ‘usual suspects’ sounding off. Burgon, Abbott and Johnson are all members of the Socialist Campaign Group; Leishman has become a prominent opponent of Ed Miliband during his nine months as an MP.
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