Why did Labour lose?

So, Labour lost big time and the Tories won. But as Glenn Reynolds says, it's hard to see how much actual change the Tories will bring about. If the party won't let you know what their policies are then how can you?

Meanwhile, Labour are wondering what went wrong and the Tories are wondering what they got right. The feeling in the pub last night was that this was a vote against Labour far more than it was a vote for the Tories, so the Labour post-mortem is rather more interesting. Sunder Katwala, who, if memory serves me correctly runs the Fabian Society, sets out all the things that he thinks are going to win voters back in an article on LabourHome.

"Then make a fairer Britain the defining mission: take risks for the cause of child poverty; make clear what climate change demands of us all; go for electoral reform and a written constitution. If not now, when?"

This is, not to put to fine a point on it, bizarre. Other-worldly. Does he really think that people voted Tory because he though that Labour had done badly on child poverty? That they want to pay more carbon taxes? That they are, in fact, aching for electoral reform, and were raging all the way to the ballot box to express their fervent love of written constitutions?

Some people in the Labour party think so.   

Comments

[Andrew]

It isn't that bizare. Sunder could point out that many Labour voters simply abstained (national turnout was 35%) and argue that more left wing policies could draw them back to the party. The problem Labour have is that there are in fact any number of plausible explanations for their poor performance and this will probably lead to paralysis and division.

[Bishop Hill]

I think if Labour ignore the feelgood (or not) factor, then it is strongly indicative of a complete lack of contact with the real world.

[Graham]

It's quite simple why the election was lost -
Total lack of support for the underpaid
Continuous stealth taxes
Overcrowded prisons
Dirty hospitals, 25000 newly qualified docors unemployed, ditto mid-wives
Violent crime increases
Cash for honours
Lack of support for the armed forces in all respects
Refusal to allow the promised referendum on Europe
The immigaration policy - or lack of
Continuous fuel tax hikes

The list is endless

GET OUT!!

[Kit]

They have lost the Tony Blair effect.

[Bishop Hill]

The point is though, do they actually understand what is going wrong?

[Kit]

I don't think anything was going wrong - well no more than usual. It is just that the voters have called time (and unless Cameron does a Kinnock he will be the next PM). What triggers this shift in sentiment is a mystery to me.
A friend who is die-hard Ken supporter decided to vote for Boris. Her reason was that "Ken had been there long enough".

[Mac the Knife]

'Some people in the Labour party think so'

I'm inclined to think people in the Labour party stopped thinking altogether some long time ago...

[Mike Baess]

We're all fed up with Labour's Punishment Policies.

Leave our bin lids open by three inches and we're punished.Try to hold a village bring and buy sale without endless bureaucracy and we're punished. And woe betide anyone who tries to drive their car.

As a result, we're left with the impression that Government is run by a bunch of crackpots who have abslutely no idea how the average person leads their life. It has all the symptoms of student politicans grabbing the levers of power, without ever having experienced the necessity to grow up.

[Bishop Hill]

Student politicians. Yes, that makes sense.