Labour must become a centre left party to ever win again, warns defeated MP

Labour can only win office and boost its supporters’ lives as a centre left party, according to an ousted former minister.

David Hanson urged party members to haul Labour back to the centre ground once Jeremy Corbyn quits, so it can once again wield power.

Mr Hanson lost the North Wales constituency of Delyn after 27 years as MP, including stints as a Justice Minister and Security Minister under Gordon Brown.

“When we’ve won the seat in Delyn we have been perceived to be a centre left party,” he said.

“When we have lost the constituency – in 1983, 1987 and now in 2019 – we’ve been seen as a party that’s far too left-wing for the public.

“You have got to be centre left.”

Delyn was created as a constituency in 1983, with the Tories winning the first two general elections.

It is made up of several towns in North East Wales, including Mostyn, Holywell and Mold.

But the biggest is Flint, on the banks of the River Dee.

Guarded by the ruins of King Edward I’s 13 Century castle overlooking the estuary, the town’s skyline is dominated by three big tower blocks: the 17-storey Bolingsbroke Heights, and the 14-storey Castle Heights and Richard Heights.

Flint is apparently shy of its town hall; completed in 1840, there is no sign or marking to announce its identity.

There is, however, a Christmas tree still wrapped in festive lights outside the civic building.

Flint’s three Polish shops – Flint Polski Slep, Wawel Store and Krakow Mini Market – are evidence of an influx of eastern European migrants into the region.

An estimated 10,000 to 13,000 Poles live in nearby Wrexham, many of them working in factories.

Indeed, in 2006, the local police force even looked at specifically recruiting Poles, such was the surge in arrivals following Poland joining the EU in 2004.

Mr Hanson’s now-disused constituency office, blinds drawn, stands in a row of shops including two of the Polish stores.

A poignant sign in the window says: “Due to the General Election result, the office is now closed to new enquiries. May I take this opportunity to thank you for all your support in the past.”

Corbetts bookmakers stands directly opposite the former constituency office – perhaps having cashed in on its neighbour’s demise.

Some Labour members and pro-Corbyn commentators are accused of preferring idealism to the compromises and pragmatism needed to get elected.

But Mr Hanson stressed the only way to put policies into action was by gaining power through winning seats across the country.

“The minimum wage was a massive change to people in my area and that wouldn’t have happened had we not won seats in Kent and Suffolk and Hertfordshire and Essex,” he said.

“People who voted Labour in other parts of the country delivered a minimum wage for people in my area.

“But we have lost that ability to appeal to the centre ground and be centre left.”

He called on Labour to present its values – “social justice, equality of opportunity and fairness; values which chime with the British people” – in a “way that understands where people are”.

Mr Hanson believes Labour was clobbered because voters simply did not trust the party to deliver its promises.

To win power again, it needs to not only win back core supporters but also appeal to people who are not traditional voters, he said.

“There were people in this election who were Conservative voters who hated Brexit, didn’t want to support Boris Johnson but couldn’t vote Labour because they felt Labour wasn’t appealing to them,” he admitted.

“We have to win that type of voter to deliver sensible policies.

“The way to win back seats like mine is being a centre left party.”

Mr Hanson, who is backing Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer for leader, said it was “critical” Labour made the “right choice” to succeed Mr Corbyn.

While Mr Hanson was a Remainer in a Brexit supporting seat – Flintshire voted Leave by 56% to 44% – he blames Labour’s unclear policy for confusing electors.

“People who voted Leave thought we were against Leave and the people who voted Remain, many of them didn’t believe that we were Remain enough,” he said.

“We had a lack of clarity on that issue.

“We were finding people on the doorstep who had always voted Labour wanted Brexit ‘done’.

“I couldn’t change my view, I have a different view of Brexit and I couldn’t vote in the House of Commons (for Brexit), nor could I agree the forms of Brexit being offered by the Government.”

As well as Brexit dominating the election, voters in Delyn, like other seats across the Red Wall, showed little enthusiasm for Mr Corbyn.

“We found as many people on the doorstep who were concerned and couldn’t vote Labour because of their perception of the Labour leader as we found on Brexit,” he said.

“I couldn’t win with both issues.

“In 2017 they gave the Labour Party the benefit of the doubt.

“In 2019 they felt the perception, in my view, was the leader was too left-wing, there were concerns about historical issues which they had perceptions of about terrorism, security, defence and patriotism.

“Those added to the Brexit issue meant people felt they couldn’t vote Labour.”

Despite the triple challenges of Brexit, Mr Corbyn and a manifesto voters thought was “not credible”, Mr Hanson, who went into the December 12 ballot with a 4,240 majority, believed he would “hang on”.

But he lost to Tory challenger Rob Roberts by 865 votes.

Mr Hanson hopes the new leader drags the party towards the centre ground so it can once again become electable.

“We have got to have credible, deliverable policies that people understand,” he said.

“We’ve got to be strong on security, strong on defence, strong on patriotism.”

Voters in Flint were split over Labour today – symptomatic of the marginal defeat suffered by David Hanson in Delyn.

Margaret Alcock, 70, a retired nurse, said: “I still voted Labour because I like Mr Hanson.

“But I didn’t like Jeremy Corbyn’s politics whatsoever, I just didn’t like the man.

“I was voting for David and I was disappointed he lost because Delyn has been Labour and I’ve always been a Labour voter.

“I don’t trust Boris – you can’t trust him to be honest.”

Martial arts instructor Gareth Pritchard, 44, backed Plaid Cymru “because I’m Welsh”.

He said: “I didn’t think the Conservatives or Labour were offering enough for local people, for the working person.

“I voted Labour at the last election in 2017 but there was a lot of negativity about the Labour Party, slagging off Corbyn and anti-Semitism stuff.

“There were promises about things they were going to do but you just didn’t know where the money was going to come from without heavy taxation of one thing or another.

“I might go back to Labour eventually – the leader’s changing so that’s a good start.”

David Hardman, 77, a retired warehouse manager, said: “I voted for Boris, he’s the only bloke that’s got any sense.

“They are all a bunch of idiots but he’s got some go and some life.

“He looks a bit like Trump and I think that’s a good thing.

“It doesn’t matter what you think about Trump, quietly he’s getting a lot done.

“I mean, he’s an idiot but I think he’s cleverer than people think.

“Let’s hope Boris can do the same for us.

“Jeremy Corbyn wants locking up – throw away the key.

“He’s useless, he promised everything that he couldn’t give.

“He promised kids they wouldn’t have to pay to go to college but didn’t know where all the money was coming from.”

David, who voted Out in the 2016 referendum, said Brexit was “a big deal” for him in the December election, adding: “It was foremost in my mind.”

Hayley Irving, 25, a McDonalds worker with a son aged two and daughter aged five, voted Labour.

She said: “I’ve always voted Labour, they are more for everyday working people.

“I didn’t even think about voting Conservative or for Boris Johnson because I’m not rich.

“I view them as for higher people, richer people, privileged people.”

Retired bank worker Andrew McHugh, 61, is a lifelong Labour voter and supported the party at the general election.

But he said: “I think people are now very disillusioned with politics and politicians in general.

“The one thing I liked about Corbyn was that he said he was a socialist and that was what he was.

“I thought Brexit was a mistake and Labour were so poor on the issue they let themselves down.

“But I stuck with them anyway at the end of the day.”

Brexiteer Michael Fellowes, 70, a retired engineer, voted Conservative.

He said: “I didn’t like the Labour leader and I didn’t like the idea of Labour trying to get us another referendum on Brexit.

“Jeremy Corbyn was too weak to be leader.

“He didn’t understand the country’s problems and he wasn’t prepared to listen to the people.

“I agreed with most of what Boris was saying – we had to leave the EU regardless of whether we would get a deal or no-deal, because the people voted to Leave.”

* The Mirror is hosting the Labour leadership and deputy leadership hustings on Sunday. If you have a question you would like to put to the candidates please email community@mirror.co.uk.