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I take my share of responsibility for this defeat, says Jeremy Corbyn ‘I am proud that we won the arguments,’ says Labour leader in his account of party’s election failureJeremy Corbyn: We won the argument, but I regret we didn’t convert that into a majority for changeJeremy Corbyn has accepted his personal responsibility for Labour’s general election defeat as he gave his fullest explanation to date for the catastrophic losses that helped return Boris Johnson to Downing Street.Writing in the Observer, the Labour leader, who has announced he will step down when a successor is elected in the spring, describes the results as “desperately disappointing”. Continue reading... Go to Source

Tactical voting was set to be Remainers’ saviour, so what went wrong? Our polls were good at identifying the correct challenger in key seats. But voters needed more than a common enemyIn the end, fears of a Corbyn government and disdain for Jo Swinson’s election campaign combined to defeat tactical voting. Over the past four weeks, the Observer has reported on constituency polls designed to assist voters wanting to oppose the Conservatives and stop Brexit. Last Sunday, we recommended candidates in 50 seats. Our results were not great. Non-Conservatives won only 13 of these seats; of these, nine were SNP gains in Scotland. In England, our preferred candidates triumphed in only four seats: Putney and Portsmouth South (Labour) and Richmond Park and St Albans (Liberal Democrat).Why ...

Sturgeon: Scotland wants different future from rest of UK SNP leader says election results made clear Scottish voters don’t want a Boris Johnson government or BrexitBoris Johnson cannot “bludgeon” Scotland into seeing the world in the same way that he does, Nicola Sturgeon has said after telling the new prime minister that the election results made it clear that Scots want a different future to the rest of the UK.Speaking at the V&A museum in Dundee on Saturday where she joined the Scottish National party’s newly elected MPs, Sturgeon insisted it is unsustainable for the Tories to keep saying no to a fresh vote. While the Conservatives gained a large Commons majority, the SNP took 48 of the 59 Scottish seats. Continue reading... Go to Source

The race begins … and the next Labour leader is likely to be a woman Six of the seven probable challengers are female, and all will be keen to connect with traditional party supportersThe battle to succeed Jeremy Corbyn and shape the future direction of the Labour party is under way as potential successors set out their leadership stalls for the first time, amid bitter recriminations after the party’s worst general election defeat since 1935.Two of the likely candidates in what will be a 12-week contest that is expected to begin in January – Jess Phillips and Lisa Nandy – break cover with articles in the Observer, expressing their anger and dismay at the party’s crushing defeat, and calling for a far-reaching post-mortem to ensure Labour reconnects with the mil...

General election: Boris Johnson visits Sedgefield as McDonnell says he will leave shadow cabinet – live news All the day’s politics news, as Boris Johnson begins tour of formerly safe Labour seats taken by Tories in electionBoris Johnson vows to repay trust of voters in north-east EnglandJohn McDonnell will not return to shadow cabinet under new leaderClashing egos and ‘policy incontinence’: inside Labour’s campaign 5.29pm GMTThat’s all from today’s politics live blog. Here’s a little summary of today’s developments.As a member of Labour’s NEC this is news to me. We’ve not been notified of a meeting. Any decisions on the future of the Party and the leadership must be made by the full NEC not the small officer’s group. h...

John McDonnell will not return to shadow cabinet Shadow chancellor says new Labour leader needs to build broad coalition across UKFollow the latest political news - liveJohn McDonnell has said he will not return to the shadow cabinet after Labour’s worst general election result in a generation.The shadow chancellor, seen as one of the architects of Labour’s shift to the left, has been a major figure at the top of the party since Jeremy Corbyn’s surprise 2015 leadership victory. But he had been criticised for his influence on Labour’s decision to support a second Brexit referendum, which alienated many voters in the party’s once-solid heartlands who had voted to leave the European Union. Continue reading... Go to Source

A week in UK politics: from Jacob Rees-Mogg’s bunker to Richard Burgon’s job prospects The final verdict on the few highs and numerous lows of the 2019 general election campaignIn the aftermath of the campaign, voters will be staggered by its best-kept secret: not the coordinates to Jacob Rees-Mogg’s underground holding cell, but the Labour party’s election slogan. The tagline that literally no one was talking about was: “It’s time for real change.” To be fair to Labour, it was a promise clearly delivered, with the party helping to achieve the once impossible spectacle of a Tory MP in Blyth Valley. Real change indeed! Continue reading... Go to Source

Housing charities and food banks report spike in donations after Tory win Organisations protecting the vulnerable such as Shelter, Refuge, the Trussell Trust and the Biscuit Fund welcomed contributionsCharities helping the most vulnerable in society have reported an increase in support after the Conservative victory in the general election.Shelter, Refuge, the Trussell Trust and the Biscuit Fund have all confirmed they have seen a sharp increase in donations and/or registered supporters as a result of the election outcome. Continue reading... Go to Source

Boris Johnson to visit new Tory seats in north-east England Union head says PM must stand by promises if he wants to keep vote of first-time supportersFollow the latest political news - liveBoris Johnson is to visit the north-east of England as part of an election victory lap, meeting Conservative MPs who ousted Labour rivals from their seats in former “red wall” heartlands.The prime minister hailed his “stonking mandate” after he secured an 80-seat majority in Thursday’s election, with many Tory gains in areas across the north of England and the Midlands, including Bishop Auckland which had never elected a Tory MP before. Continue reading... Go to Source

Clashing egos and 'policy incontinence': inside Labour's campaign Labour insiders point to lack of strategic focus, leadership confusion, and say Corbyn had all but given up by the final weekAs Jeremy Corbyn sped through Stroud in Labour’s battlebus on Monday, he was asked whether it had been hard to land a blow on serial liar Boris Johnson during the six-week election campaign. Screwing up his face in distaste at the pugilistic metaphor, he replied: “I’m not a boxer!”He was much more comfortable reeling off a long list of constituencies he had visited in the past few days – something one close ally described as a “coping mechanism” – as a bruising campaign drew to a close. Continue reading... Go to Source

Kind of blue: UK comes to terms with Tory election victory Nation remains divided with Boris Johnson calling for reconciliation, and Nicola Sturgeon demanding a vote on Scottish independenceBritain awoke on Friday morning to an electoral map that had turned an emphatic shade of Tory blue, and to a country as starkly divided as ever – this time into those delighted by a thumping Boris Johnson election victory and those despairing at the prospect of a rightwing Conservative government, a hard exit from the European Union and ever more pressing questions over the sustainability of the UK itself. Related: The Guardian view on the 2019 election result: a new political landscape | Editorial Continue reading... Go to Source

Johnson ascendant: your general election recap How the Tories prevailed – and Jeremy Corbyn came unstuckFrom the Tory landslide to what Labour must do now and a look at how the “red wall” crumbled, here is your recap from our general election coverage. Continue reading... Go to Source

Boris Johnson pledges to prioritise NHS after election victory Prime minister wants ‘healing to begin’ after gamble on Brexit-focused election pays offLatest election news - live updatesBoris Johnson has said he wants to “let the healing begin” over Brexit, pitching himself as the prime minister of a one-nation government after winning the largest Conservative majority since Margaret Thatcher.Speaking outside Downing Street, Johnson said the NHS would be his top priority in government, and that the country needed “a permanent break” from the issue of Brexit after three-and-a-half years of wrangling. Continue reading... Go to Source

Anywhere but Westminster: how Labour lost, and the hope that endures – video John Harris and John Domokos finish their election road trip with a rain-sodden journey to Milton Keynes alongside enthusiastic young Labour activists, followed by a repeat visit to Stoke-on-Trent - where they watch the party's working class vote collapse, the endpoint of a story Anywhere But Westminster has been tracing for 10 years. But in among the electoral rubble, they find overlooked signs of a better future Continue reading... Go to Source

Jeremy Corbyn 'very sad' at election defeat but feels proud of manifesto The Labour leader is under pressure to step down but did not give a timetable for departure Election reaction – live updatesJeremy Corbyn has said he is very sad at the election result and suggested he will step down in the early part of next year, but insisted he has “pride in the manifesto”.The Labour leader gave a short statement in which he did not apologise to the 60 Labour MPs who lost their seats since its 2017 result or acknowledge any responsibility for the party suffering its worst result since 1935. Continue reading... Go to Source