HOVE MP Peter Kyle said his party needs a “fundamental rethink” after letting down tens of thousands of people across the South of England.

The newly-elected MP said the Labour Party needed to learn from his own successful election campaign and listen to voters if it wanted to reconnect with the region.

Mr Kyle was responding to comments made by former Labour leader candidate Tristram Hunt who said his party needed to retake “whole swathes of southern England” to return to power – before dropping out of the leadership race.

The shadow education secretary said his party needed to make the same gains in the South East that the party made under Tony Blair before they would see another Labour Prime Minister.

Speaking at the Demos think tank yesterday, the TV historian strongly criticised the “timid, institutionalised caution” which he said characterised the party’s general election campaign under Mr Miliband that aimed to win just enough voters to get them back into power.

In 1997, the party held five seats in Sussex including all three in Brighton and Hove under David Lepper, Des Turner and Ivor Caplin as well as Michael Foster in Hastings and Rye and Laura Moffatt in Crawley.

But this month, Mr Kyle’s victory created a small red island around the city surrounded by one Green and a huge number of Conservative seats.

Mr Hunt said that it was not enough for the party simply to stop “haemorrhaging” support in its traditional heartlands.

He said: “We must ensure that same heart sends our message - pumps the blood - to parts of our country we no longer reach.

“We need to win in Scotland. We need to win against Ukip. And we need to win whole swathes of southern England where, early New Labour aside, we have long since lost any pretence at an emotional connection.”

Mr Kyle, a special advisor to the Cabinet Office in Mr Blair’s third term, said: “Tristram is right to point out that Labour needs a fundamental rethink before putting a fresh offer to voters.

"Labour let down tens of thousands of people across the South of England by failing to earn their trust and I won’t avoid that fact.

“Instead I want to learn from it and use my unique position as the only Labour MP for the region to ensure our party reconnects, rebuilds, and is once again seen as the driving force for people wanting to get on in life whilst caring for others in need of support.”

Mr Hunt dropped out of the leadership race having been unable to secure the backing of enough MPs and instead endorsed Leicester West MP Liz Kendall.

Former ministers Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper are favourites for the post with the winner announced in September.

QUOTE

“In my campaign for Hove and Portslade we spent huge amounts of time listening to people and working alongside them in their neighbourhoods. Not because it was good politics but because we wanted to, after-all working with residents for positive change is fun.

“Making politics connect with people on their terms, not ours, is just one of the lessons I want the wider Labour movement to learn from our victory in Hove and Portslade.”
Hove MP Peter Kyle