Calls for Labour’s internal inquiry into election defeat to be made public

The Labour Party’s official inquiry into May’s election defeat has now been finished, and the report has been sent to Jeremy Corbyn’s office.

As acting leader, Harriet Harman set up a taskforce to conduct the review, and gave Margaret Beckett the responsibility of chairing the inquiry. The finalised report has been given to the leader’s office, and will be shared with Labour’s NEC at a future date.

The party is now coming under pressure to make the report public. Spencer Livermore, the head of Labour’s election campaign and now a peer, said yesterday that publishing the report would be an “important contribution” to understanding the defeat. No decision has yet been taken concerning whether it should be published or not, but there are members of the NEC also calling for it to be made public.

Livermore said: “It is important we have as wide a debate as possible about why we lost to make sure we learn the right lessons, and publishing that report is an important contribution to that debate.”

LabourList understands that earlier drafts of the taskforce’s report pulled no punches in its assessments of Labour’s campaign, and the findings could make tough reading for Labour supporters.

Margaret Beckett nominated Jeremy Corbyn in the leadership contest to widen the debate, but did not support him, and later called herself a “moron” for her actions.