UK Labour Party Fails to Make Ground in Crucial Seats

Britain’s Labour Party is failing to make inroads into the marginal seats it needs to win the next election according to analysis by the sympathetic Fabian Society, reported in today’s Sun. Of the 106 seats needed to propel Ed Miliband to 10 Downing Street, less than half are expected to be won by the party.

Labour needs to gain 68 Commons seats from either the Liberal Democrats or the Conservatives to secure a majority of just one in 2015. However the analysis, based on the local election results, show that they will only take 58 seats, 10 short of the winning line – leading to another hung parliament for Britain.

Key marginal seats high up Labour’s target list such as Gloucester, Worcester and Pudsey will all stay in Conservative hands, and constituencies like Birmingham Yardley will remain Lib Dem. To make matters worse nine Labour seat will be lost to other parties, leaving Labour with just 30 net gains.

Fabians Deputy General Secretary Marcus Roberts said: “Our findings make clear that Labour isn’t doing well enough.

“Winning back blue collar voters who increasingly back UKIP will be crucial if Miliband wants to do more than just add 30 or 40 seats. If Labour doesn’t change course then it’ll be another hung parliament, not a clear win.

“Blue collar voters are the heart and soul of the Labour Party and must be won back if Ed Miliband wants to be Prime Minister. That means strong policy on immigration, welfare and housing. Blue collar voters will only trust Labour again when the party can show street by street, house by house that Labour gets it and has changed.”

In further bad news for the Labour Party the latest YouGov poll for The Sun gave Labour just two points over the Conservatives – 36 to 34 percent. This is nowhere near the sort of lead that a party expecting to win the election should enjoy at this stage.

Labour has failed to gain major headway ever since electing Ed Miliband as their leader. He was heavily backed in the leadership election against his brother by the trades unions, but he has badly struggled in the role.

Not only has he failed to persuade Conservative voters to defect to his party, but he had also seen UKIP make major inroads into his core vote. The Fabians analysis confirms that the results in May were good for both David Cameron and Nigel Farage.