Ahead of the May byelection, New Labour diehards talk about ‘electability’ but ignore the need for a left agenda
- Jon Trickett is Labour MP for Hemsworth
Just as a slew of elections in May come into view, including a Westminster byelection in Hartlepool – arguably a key “red wall” seat – Peter Mandelson has reappeared on the political scene, as he is wont to do from time to time. Indeed, he knows Hartlepool well, since he was the town’s MP for 12 years.
Mandelson is correct to say that the test for Labour, following the 2019 general election defeat, is whether it is now electable. But the country has changed in the quarter of a century since the party’s 1997 landslide. Reverting back to old formulae, in part created by Mandelson and based on an outdated political offer, won’t work.
