Jeremy Corbyn’s hapless EU referendum campaign cited as proof he wouldn’t win a general election
Calamitous Labour leader campaigned while wearing a West Papua Solidarity t-shirt
FURIOUS Labour MPs rounded on Jeremy Corbyn tonight for his dire EU campaign – and raised fears his calamitous approach will never win a general election.
A fresh revolt against Mr Corbyn’s leadership erupted hours after he urged Brits to vote Remain wearing a “West Papua Solidarity” T-shirt.
It capped a hapless campaign which saw the radical leftie declare himself “no lover” of Brussels and said his passion for staying in the EU was about “seven and a half out of 10” – despite the party’s key role in pushing for Remain vote.
Labour HQ was sent into meltdown three weeks ago when it emerged half of the party’s voters did not know where it stood on the issue – and four out 10 planned to vote Leave.
Leading the backlash, pro-Remain backbench MP Gavin Shuker said: “The leader went AWOL for months, and when he came back, he just couldn’t convince our longest-standing supporters because they think he’s out of touch with reality.
“The referendum has shown us the weaknesses, but they’d only be magnified at a general election.”
Fellow pro-Remain MP Wes Streeting said: “There was far too much confusion about where Labour stood and the messaging from Jeremy was far too inconsistent.
“Jeremy struck the right tone of being a reluctant remainer at the outset but under the spotlight of a national campaign he was not able to sustain that message.”
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Copeland MP Jamie Reed said the referendum had shown up a “real division between the Labour Party in London and the Labour Party and its voters outside in what we used to refer to as traditional Labour heartlands”, adding: “We have no divine right to match the 9.3 million votes that we got at the last election.
“The response cannot be to put our fingers in our ears again.”
Pro-EU MP Stephen Kinnock called for a “root and branch review” of why so many Labour supporters backed Brexit to be completed by the party conference in September, adding: “Jeremy and the leadership need to play a central role in taking that forward.”
And Brexit-backing MP John Mann told Mr Corbyn to go out and knock on doors in working class areas – or face one electoral defeat after another.
The Bassetlaw MP said: “There is a huge disconnect between the party and its natural base of support and this referendum has highlighted that very starkly.
“It’s no good Jeremy doing set-piece speeches to hand-picked audiences and thinking that’s going to connect – it isn’t.
“He has got no choice but to go out and expose himself to working class opinion by knocking on doors in places like mine.
“If the Labour Party does not get into a proper dialogue with working class voters it cannot win elections.”
Plans for a leadership challenge against Mr Corbyn were put on hold earlier this year – but renewed anger over the EU campaign could trigger a fresh round of plotting.