Quote of the day 19th February 2020

"More serious still for these voters was the principle that Labour had refused to implement the democratically expressed wishes of the people, and often of their own constituents.

Brexit therefore became a metaphor for a party that no longer listened to them, taking their votes for granted while dismissing their views as ignorant or backward.

“They were saying, ‘it’s the adults talking now, leave the table and we’ll sort it out for you’,” as one former supporter put it.

Another linked Labour’s apparent attitude on Brexit to Gordon Brown’s encounter with Gillian Duffy in 2010:

“He tarred her with the bigot brush rather than listening to what she had to say. It’s the same with Brexit.” 

These impressions – of a party unready for office and unwilling to listen – will not vanish just because the Brexit legislation is complete."


(Extracts from analysis of comments by former Labour voters who abandoned the party in December 2019 as reported in "Diagnosis of Defeat: Labour’s Turn to Smell the Coffee" by Lord Ashcroft.)

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