FOLLOWING the deeply concerning and disappointing result in the Hartlepool by-election for Labour last week it is of paramount importance that the party learns from its mistakes and swift and widespread changes are made to halt the rapidly occurring Pasokification threatening to wipe out the Labour Party altogether.

At No Holding Back we believe these mistakes are largely twofold — the imposition of an outsider candidate with no consultation or engagement with the local party members in Hartlepool — and a fundamental lack of a vision for the future that can inspire and enthuse voters to support Labour.

The Labour Party has lost a basic connection with its roots over the past few decades as a party that will give the working people of this country a voice and a radical alternative to the neoliberal tide that offers real meaningful change to empower them and their communities.

The disastrous decision taken on Brexit in 2019 cemented this detachment from the working people in the Labour heartlands whose vote for Brexit was a desperate cry for the very change the Labour Party once offered them.

We now must work hard to win back the trust of these voters and show that the Labour Party is still the party of the many and not the few.

But recent decisions taken by the party are not encouraging. The disbandment of the Community Organising Team is a huge step backwards in the task to re-engage with people at community level and the aforementioned one person long-list of an outsider candidate was no doubt a factor in the humiliating defeat in Hartlepool.

For some, Labour seems to be in perpetual decline. But other results around the country in mayoral and council elections in Manchester, Preston and Salford among others show there is a way to stem the tide.

This must begin immediately with the upcoming Batley and Spen by-election. There exists a whole host of talented working people — especially key workers, who have kept our communities afloat over the past year — who would make invaluable additions to the Commons.

Voters acknowledge and appreciate candidates who are visible in their communities making positive change and who know and understand the challenges the area faces through their lived experiences.

With this in mind, we at No Holding Back call for a long list of prospective candidates made up entirely of local, working people of Batley and Spen who would make fitting spokespeople for the voters they seek to represent.

With the scourge of fire and rehire leaving thousands unemployed and nurses being betrayed with what is in reality a real-terms pay cut, it is essential we select a candidate who has first-hand experience of the disgraceful treatment our workers face today to fight for those whose voices desperately need to be heard.

We must also never send in a candidate to fight an election with no convincing message or vision to pitch to the voters.

We need a message that appeals to the values and priorities of Labour’s disillusioned traditional voter base in the northern heartlands, which can also resonate with the strong support Labour has recently enjoyed in large metropolitan city areas.

For this vision we need look no further than the electoral successes mentioned earlier. What these victories have in common is a radical economic message based on community wealth building and public ownership that is deeply rooted in their communities which they seek to empower.

They transcend the divisive culture wars by bringing old and young as well as city dwellers and rural towns together around common causes of improving infrastructure, fighting regional inequality, fair and well paid work as well as a strong sense of grassroots collectivity and togetherness.

Labour is declining. But with projects to re-engage and mobilise communities alongside a bold and radical vision of the future that embraces the party’s socialist traditions while being fit to tackle our modern day social and economic challenges, Labour can have its golden years ahead rather than behind it.

Ian Lavery, John Trickett and Laura Smith for No Holding Back — www.noholdingback.org.uk.