Don’t rush in

Tomorrow, the National Executive Committee will decide the process for selecting the new Leader of the Labour Party.

For many of us, the shock of last week’s defeat is still sinking in. How could the polls have been so wrong? How can we rebuild trust with the electorate? How do we win those key marginal seats that we used to hold but didn’t come close to recapturing this time?

These are big questions and it’s the responsibility of all of us – MPs, councillors, activists and members alike – to discuss where we go from here.

We need to come together in a spirit of comradeship and solidarity to discuss what went wrong, learn from our mistakes, plot a new course, choose the right leader, develop new policies and put the right team in place in order to give ourselves the best chance of winning next time.

But we need the time and space to do that.

Let’s be clear, this is not a finger-pointing exercise. Boiling-down why we lost to one or two reasons is not enough. We need to peel back the covers and ask what sort of a party we are. Be honest about what went wrong. And seek out solutions about how we fix it.

In some parts of the county, voters didn’t trust us to run the economy and look after their money.

In other parts, the siren voices of the SNP or UKIP exploited the fact we had lost touch with our heartlands.

So we need a new approach. One that brings together our historic beliefs as a party with the circumstances of today.

Not New Labour or Old Labour, but a Labour party for today and tomorrow.

An approach, then, that provides a clear analysis about how we make our country great and repair the damage that has been done – and will be done – by this Conservative government.

We need to provide compelling answers about how we spread prosperity around all parts of the country.

About how we deliver public services in the future – and how we pay for them.

A new strategy that confronts the failings of our past in order to rebuild trust with the people we strive to serve.

There’s a lot to discuss and we shouldn’t be afraid or reluctant to have that discussion. Let’s talk it all through and come to a shared set of priorities to match our shared values.

But please, NEC members, give us time to do that properly. Don’t rush in.

Joe Anderson is Labour Mayor of Liverpool