JEREMY CORBYN’S Labour Party carried out a bizarre campaign strategy during the 2019 general election, which saw the party target Tory Leave areas and ignore polling data to the detriment of 59 Labour MPs.
A secret dossier, published by The Sunday Times, has revealed Labour’s electoral strategy, which saw the party target almost 100 key constituencies - including several “deep blue” seats that overwhelmingly backed Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum. Strategists channelled millions of pounds into target areas, which critics dubbed an attempt to overcome Labour’s pro-EU wing. The election plot, which was hidden from the shadow cabinet and key staff throughout the campaign, also appeared to select seats on the basis of vindictive internal politics.
The dossier, leaked by an internal critic, was drafted by two of Mr Corbyn’s closest aides: Karie Murphy and Seumas Milne, who have been reluctant to step down following Labour’s worst defeat in almost a century.
The document of target seats was last updated several weeks before the nationwide vote, on November 15, and evidenced Ms Murphy’s claim she would ignore polling data and conventional strategy throughout the campaign.
Strategists split the 86 target seats into “offensive” and “defensive” seats, the former saw the party attempt to win the seat from rival parties, while the latter were Labour marginals it wanted to hold onto.
The majority of the 60 offensive seats were Leave-voting Tory seats in the Midlands, the north of England and Wales - which saw the biggest swings against Mr Corbyn’s party, according to BBC analysis.
For example, the party attempted to win eurosceptic areas such as Stourbridge, Dover and Gloucester - which all had a majority of over 5,000.
Despite Labour’s attempts to win over voters, the Tories increased their majority to more than 10,000.
The bold strategy to target the “deep blue” seats highlights the huge flaws in Labour’s campaign.
One critic dubbed it “deranged optimism” - a desire to fight a bold campaign after Labour’s near miss in the 2017 general election.
But another party insider argued the strategy was party of a plot to rid the party of its pro-EU wing once and for all.
They claimed that Ms Murphy and her close friend Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite, imposed the strategy to “prove wrong” Remainers such as Sir Heir Starmer and Emily Thornberry, who had long argued that Labour should back Remain.
Other target seats suggest the strategists selected constituencies on the basis of vindictive internal politics, such as trying to oust Luciana Berger, who quit the Labour Party over its handling of antisemitism allegations.
Labour invested significant resources into Finchley and Golders Green, where she was campaigning to stand as a the Lib Dem candidate.
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Neither party ended up winning the seat, with the Tory incumbent Mike Freer increasing his majority threefold.
Strategists also appeared to turn their backs on Labour MPs who were sceptical of Mr Corbyn’s leadership.
This included Ruth Smeeth, Mary Creagh and Melanie Onn - who all lost their seats in the election.
The party also failed to target Workington in Cumbria as a defensive seat, despite warnings from a Tory think tank the constituency could be a key battleground.
Labour lost the seat to the Tories, as it lost a whopping 12 percent of the voting share since the 2017 election.
In response to the leaked document, Ms Smeeth said: “This dossier just further confirms the incompetence at the highest levels of the Labour Party — not only have they failed to recognise the challenges that we face in terms of leadership, racism in the party and our Brexit policy, they also had no idea how to run the campaign.
“Good colleagues lost by hundreds of votes because seemingly no one in head office was prepared to look at data — they should be ashamed of themselves.”
A party insider said the campaign was given the flexibility to work “around” the list and marshal resources as circumstances required.
The source who leaked the document said lessons need to be learned from Labour’s colossal defeat.
They said: “We need to know that Corbyn’s successors won’t repeat past mistakes and prioritise winning stupid ideological battles over winning power.
“That applies to both our next leader and their team.”
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1220137/labour-party-news-Jeremy-Corbyn-general-election-campaign-strategy-election-2019?
