As leader of the UK's largest union, I want Labour to succeed but that means radical change | Andrea Egan

"Yet endless speculation over the how and when of Keir Starmer's political demise, entertaining as it might be for pundits and Westminster-watchers, is a diversion from the real debate that needs to be had. Because amid all the intrigue, something more serious is at hand: an existential threat to the Labour party, engineered by its own leadership. In this grave context, the conversation we should be having is a far more fundamental one. The focus shouldn't be on rearranging the deckchairs, but on how the party might save itself from oblivion."

"Ultimately the answer is simple. Labour has strayed a very long way from its founding mission when it was set up by the labour movement well over a century ago: to unashamedly represent the interests of the working class and its organised industrial expressions. We can all now see the consequences: a longstanding electoral coalition in tatters, fragmented in all directions."

"This breaking apart of Labour's base had been a gradual process, from haemorrhaging almost five million votes between 1997 and 2010 to getting the lowest vote share of any winning party in modern history at the last general election. But Starmer, seemingly taking inspiration from the open contempt for the party's historic support base that was exemplified back in 1999 by Peter Mandelson (they have nowhere else to go), has accelerated the decline to the extent that the party is now on the brink."

"The prime minister has deliberately hollowed out the Labour party, completing its transformation from a mass social democratic party into a brittle elite club. Once a massive organisation with deep, organic links to workplaces and communities, the party is"

Labour faces an existential threat created by its own leadership. The party has moved far from its founding mission to represent the working class and its organised industrial expressions. Electoral support has steadily eroded, with large vote losses from 1997 to 2010 and the lowest vote share for any winning party in modern history at the last general election. The leadership has accelerated this decline by treating the historic support base with contempt and by hollowing out the party. Labour has been transformed from a mass social democratic organisation with deep workplace and community links into a brittle elite club, leaving a fragmented coalition with nowhere else to go.

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