“But it seems clear that most of the UK is sick of him, of his party, and of their constant failures.”

I think it’s a bit too early to say that Mike, given the research in the Red Wall areas:

‘Mattinson has long conducted voter research for Labour. Her interviewees, all former Labour voters who chose the Tories in 2019, often admire Donald Trump, sometimes wish Britain still had an empire, and believe that Boris Johnson and Brexit will “make Britain great again”. They hate “scroungers”, political correctness and urban liberals, especially if they’re from London.

Instead, they rage against Labour: as somehow both “weak” and “arrogant”, too “old-fashioned” and too trendily modern, too “middle-class” and too concerned with poverty. Even allowing for the tendency of voters who’ve dumped a party to talk up its supposed faults, this disenchantment seems deep. “Those we spoke to were not expecting to return to Labour any time soon,” writes Mattinson’

Sad stuff!

I think the “whiting” game was meant as a pun, as a whiting is a fish! The entire post is littered with fishy/seafood references – Brill, conger, winkle, whiting, and even sturgeon!

Were the “former Labour voters” interviewed in the Mattinson survey allowed to define THEMSELVES as such. While campaigning, I met one man, a right old grump, who insisted he was a Labour voter of old.Yet, when consulting our previous canvassing records, I found he hadn’t voted Labour for years , if at all.

Might this explain why they seemed so Right wing in this survey (liked Donald Trump!? Even actual Tories cringe at the name!)

Because they were never really committed Labour voters but were swing voters at best.
We should remember that many of these “red wall” seats always had a solid Tory vote which only needed a few hundred extra votes to get “over the line!”

Their contradictory views of Labour eg “too trendy” but, simultaneously too “old fashioned”, or “too middle-class” while simultaneously ” too concerned with the very poor” suggest people who read the Daily Mail or Sun or Express, papers that just accumulate widely varied reasons to not vote Labour with little attempt to be consistent. Any smear will do.
Might we ,sadly,conclude that these are lost causes and the leadership should stop hoping to win them back by appealing to their reactionary prejudices . Labour as the Party of “law and order” is just about a possible position but Labour as the Party to protect you from “a Muslim invasion” is just not a plausible scenario. Or Labour the Party to seem to “get Brexit done” ,when Johnson struggles, is also not a convincing appeal.

Let’s accept that it is too early to expect genuine defectors who voted Brexit and Tory to reconsider their views as none of us will suddenly change when faced with initial problems . (How many Starmer supporters, wincing at his latest open betrayal of Party policies, will openly announce that they made a mistake by voting for him?)

I am not suggesting that we abdicate from the tasks ahead. But I suggest that , at least, the leadership has a convincing explanation as to why Brexit just isn’t appearing to be easy or successful in economic terms. Just reminding people of Tory incompetence convinces Tory voters that their cause is just but needs a better team to deliver it.

We need to actually put forward different ideas and explanations. To challenge the version of history put forward by the reactionary papers. It’s not enough to let people cling to their “Land of Hope and Glory” views but hope they vote Labour to save the local hospital from cuts. That just isn’t enough.