Labour must do this period of reflection properly, not rush to a solution

The reality of the outcome of the 2019 general election has been a sledgehammer to the gut of Labour activists and voters, and the full reality of the outcome is yet to be realised. Almost immediately, across TV screens and social media feeds, commentators and members were developing their concept of blame for the worst Labour performance since before the war.

I’m a mental health clinician. In psychotherapy, there is a concept of patients frantically trying to solve problems to avoid the discomfort, disturbance or pain of loss and uncertainty. But it is the space of facing the loss and tolerating the uncertainty that allows us to think and develop.

Often patients fall into the trap of rushing to a solution, but those solutions are based on emotive reasoning, rigid thinking and knee-jerk reactions to get rid of distress. Being able to sit with uncomfortable and painful feelings actually gives us insight into how our problems have emerged and to develop as humans – and in this case as a political party.

Many have said we lost because of Brexit, others that we lost because of Corbyn, or some because of media bias. It would be nice to think that if you were to remove one piece of the vast puzzle, those who no longer trusted us would come back. But the reality is that voters are not that simple or homogenous and the path forward for Labour will be far more complex than simply a change of leadership.

The losses in Scotland started long before Brexit and Corbyn. The loss of faith of constituencies like Plymouth Moor View and Corby are far more complex than any one of those simple answers – and perhaps the view that former Labour voters left us for just one reason is part of the problem we face.

If we look at the speech of Gordon Brown at the 2009 Labour conference, he lists the achievements of the Labour administration – and yet we lost a year later. We must realise that despite the policy progress that was brought in by a Labour government, life remained a struggle for many – particularly those most acutely failed by the preceding decades of Tory government.

On the doorstep of former council houses and flat blocks, I heard time and time again that voters did not believe that we were on their side or that we understood what they faced for a variety of reasons. If you hear an interpretation of this catastrophic result that fits in a soundbite or a tweet, you can be certain it is not panacea. There is no quick or easy solution and it will require us sitting with the pain of this loss, facing the reality of what voters have told us and tolerating the uncertainty of developing a new way forward as the Labour Party.

We face a very tough five years ahead with a Tory majority of this size, and we do not have time for inflexible views and endless infighting. The communities that will be hit the hardest need Labour to be ready to fight for them.

If we are unable to let go of our rigid positions on blame, our grievances within the party, and our hard-and-fast divisions of perceived political factions – and move to a place where we consider a broader perspective and integrate the knowledge of experienced members but also the fresh insight of newer Labour supporters and members – we prevent ourselves from being able to develop beyond our current state, which has been resoundingly rejected by the public.

We have to accept for a multitude of reasons that we haven’t convinced people of our arguments or our proposed solutions. If we cannot tolerate saying that we are uncertain for the time being, then I believe we are doomed to repeat this outcome and continue to fail those who need us the most.