Sleaford vote shows we must listen to voters on EU and immigration, former shadow cabinet minster tells party

Labour’s result in the Sleaford and North Hykeham by-election was a “disaster”, a leading backbencher says today, as he begun to set out how the party could reconnect with its past supporters following Brexit.

Vernon Coaker, one of those who helped run the campaign in the Lincolnshire vote, warned that Labour’s voice is being “drowned out”. However he backed the party’s message on withdrawal from the EU – to accept the outcome of the referendum but to try to protect the country from a “hard Brexit” – and explained more details of his listening tour across Britain.

Coaker, a former shadow defence secretary, uses a LabourList article to demand the intellectual renewal of the party amid changed voter perceptions on globalisation, immigration, the EU and the economy.

His intervention comes after a disappointing few weeks for Labour in which it slipped from second to fourth in the Sleaford vote and lost its deposit as it came third in the other “Brexit by-election”, in Richmond Park, despite strong candidates in both seats. It has also posted some weak poll ratings, with the Tories enjoying a double digit lead – although an Opinium survey last week showed Labour had cut the gap on the government.

Jeremy Corbyn has blamed Labour’s poor poll ratings on the summer leadership contest and vowed to use the vast membership base to help the party deliver key campaigns on the economy and Tory neglect of the NHS.

Coaker praised Labour’s choice in Sleaford, dustman Jim Clarke, but struck a sober note as he assessed the state of the party.

“Labour finishing fourth in a by-election – or any election for that matter – is a disaster. For a party that is supposed to be a government-in-waiting, we should be challenging the Tories all over the country, making sure there are no Conservative ‘safe seats'”, he wrote.

“Issues that normally resonate with our core voters were lost amidst the noise of Brexit. The revelation of Tory plans to close Grantham A&E, despite visits from  and Jonathan Ashworth, hardly caused a whisper. Campaigning on the streets of Lincolnshire, I discussed little other than Europe with voters.

“This will not be unique to Sleaford and North Hykeham. Our traditional supporters, ranging from Hampstead to Hull, straddle divergent attitudes on immigration and, by extension, Europe. We are in a strategic vice, treading the tightrope between “remainers” and “leavers”. With the Brexit vote cutting across traditional party and class lines, it is becoming clear that the strength of loyalty to the brand of Labour is wavering, which we must be aware of as we move forward.”