How Scottish Labour's Kezia Dugdale may have handed the election to the Tories

[Denzil_DC]

27. Lest anyone think this was purely post-poll petulance on my part,

here's a report from Scottish Labour's Campaign for Socialism:

Helicopter view of the 2017 GE results: A Tale of Two Parties

...

Labour Votes and the missed opportunities

Scottish Labour’s framing of the election around the SNP and the constitution, avoided robustly challenging the Tories on their record in government at Westminster. Feedback from the doorstep was indicating people were fed up with the SNP; however, Labour’s disunity – especially with senior figures in Scottish Labour’s leadership team being openly hostile towards Jeremy Corbyn – turned people off. Moreover, the Scottish Tories managed to decouple themselves from David Cameron’s and Teresa May’s governments, and present themselves as being an effective opposition to the SNP. By not challenging effectively the Tories’ record in government since 2010 and focussing on the SNP, Scottish Labour’s strategists – still in the Better Together mind-set – tacitly oversaw the Scottish Tories increase their votes by approximately 5,500 in the average constituency (the Tories increased their votes across GB by 21%)

...

The ‘Jeremy Corbyn’ effect saw the Labour vote increase by over one-third across GB (38%); however, in Scotland, where the Scottish Party led an anti-SNP campaign with the ‘send Nicola a message’ narrative that almost silenced Jeremy’s message of ‘for the many’, only saw a very small increase of 1% .... Yet, this is better than many pollsters predicted at the start of the campaign. The more positive landing place is generally accepted due to Jeremy Corbyn’s national campaign.

After 15 months of a hostile PLP and media, the turning point of the campaign was the leaked draft manifesto and Jeremy Corbyn talking directly to voters, Jeremy’s campaign cut through the Scottish Labour message. This saw a surge of people opting to vote Labour for a better future. Unfortunately, by the time the momentum gathered the majority of the postal votes were cast. Yet, this ‘Corbyn bounce’ in a last few weeks of the campaign coupled with the collapse of SNP majorities saw an additional six Scottish Labour MPs returned to Westminster and many new marginals.

...

Moving forward

The priority must be keeping the momentum of Jeremy’s campaign going and planning ways to sustain this for the forthcoming 18 months; especially, given the SNP’s concern that after another snap general election they could be down to three MPs. Thus, Scottish Labour activists need to work together to engage communities and voters to deliver for the many and getting rid of this Tory government for the few.

http://ht.ly/ZXJ530dM29G

This evidence that Scottish Labour's campaign tactics (not to mention general uselessness) held back Labour's progress in Scotland put the cat among the pigeons in Scottish Labour's upper echelons. Tensions between Kezia Dugdale and MSP Neil Findlay, who just happens to be Convener of the Campaign for Socialism, are no secret, but seldom spill out in public.

But spill out it did:



If you want an insight into the anti-SNP partisanship among the Scottish media, here's the Record's leader about it:

Scottish Labour's left are hell-bent on sabotaging the party

...

Attacking Kezia Dugdale’s record for focusing too much on the SNP in Scotland to the degree that she facilitated a Tory revival is a message from planet Zog, transmitted via tinfoil helmets to the Scottish Campaign for Socialism.

For Labour’s left to try to mug Dugdale for their own serial electoral failures displays a lack of political nous which advertises their own unsuitability for leadership.

Dugdale, a better leader than Labour deserved when they were on their knees, can hold the ring against the SNP in what will become a real battle to the death in the west of Scotland over the next few years.

Corbyn, an authentic voice of radical Labour values, adds to the mix in Scotland. Together they can achieve great things, divided they fall.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/scottish-labours-left-hell-bent-10849152

There's some special pleading here, because the Record, along with the rest of the media, did sterling work during the election propelling Dugdale's "Better Together/vote Tory to get the SNP out" message.

But it looks like Findlay would have preferred it hadn't spilt out:

Link to tweet

Chris Musson ✔ @camusson

MSP Neil Findlay is on holiday & pleading ignorance over press release sent out from the left-wing Scottish Labour faction he's convener of

Chris Musson ✔ @camusson


Hmm. Scottish Labour's Campaign for Socialism (convener @NeilFindlay_MSP) has put out statement saying Scottish party is holding Corbyn back

Corbyn's strategy in the face of this evidence? Guess.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn targets 18 SNP seats in next bid for Downing Street

Jeremy Corbyn is targeting 18 seats held by the SNP in his bid to win the keys to Downing Street.

The Labour leader will tour key marginal seats in Scotland next month as he continues to prepare for the possibility of another election.

The party stunned observers in last month’s general election by winning six seats from the SNP and slashing the nationalists’ majority in constituencies across the country.

Strategists believe they could pick up several more Scottish seats in a future election.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/labour-leader-jeremy-corbyn-targets-10841237

It's a "well, duh" point that taking seats from the SNP will do nothing to cut into the Tories' majority at Westminster, but there we have it.

Conspicuously absent from any of these target seats are any that the Election Polling site highlights as potential Tory/Labour marginals, such as Renfrewshire East, Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, and Aberdeen South, nor any where Labour will have to fend off challenges from the Tories in its newly won seats, like East Lothian.

We'll see whether Corbyn can mobilize sizeable crowds on the Scottish leg of his wee tour. On his past form when criticizing the SNP's record in government during visits up here, if his pants aren't aflame by the end of it, I'll be amazed.

And he may well let slip some of his customary bloopers that expose the historic divisions between UK Corbynite Labour and Scottish Dugdale Labour. It's always a wee bit embarrassing when he champions policies the SNP have already enacted in Scotland when Scottish Labour have bitterly opposed them.