London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

Labour shadow minister Jon Ashworth in 'end of the party' warning

Labour's "devastating" general election defeat could spell the end of the party, shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth has warned.

The Labour MP told a BBC Radio 4 documentary the party had to change or face up to 15 years out of power.

"Unless we do something quick this could be the end of the Labour Party in this country", he said.

Senior Labour and Tory figures give frank assessments of the 2019 campaign in the programme to be aired on Sunday.

Labour went down to its worst defeat, in terms of seats, since 1935, although its vote share was slightly higher than when it lost in 2010 and 2015.

Mr Ashworth had to apologise to his party two days before the election, after saying he did not believe it could win, blaming "the combination of Corbyn and Brexit".


'Voters didn't buy it'

He said he was "set up" by a Tory friend, who secretly recorded his comments and released them to the media.

"I obviously regret that and I still think about it all time," he told The Inside Story of Election 19 documentary.

But he added: "I was correct - that was the irony of the phone call."

The Leicester South MP is critical of Labour's decision to focus on claims the Conservatives were plotting to put the NHS on the table in trade talks with America.

"It was a legitimate point to make, but I think, politically, voters didn't buy it," he said, because it did not directly affect their lives.

He also claims there was a lack of communication and planning at the heart of Labour's campaign.

He said he was told about the party's free broadband pledge by a BBC Newsnight producer while he was waiting to go on air to talk about Labour's NHS policies.

"I knew nothing about it," he said, adding that it "was a week when we were trying to focus on the NHS and we were suddenly going off in another direction".


'A Brexit election'

He added that he did not think Labour should assume it would automatically return to power - and it needed to change.

"We could be out for another five to 10, 15 years," he said.

Jeremy Corbyn's former director of communications, James Schneider, also highlights a lack of trust between the key players in the campaign.

"John (McDonnell) and his shadow Treasury team did guard quite closely their big announcements," he told presenter Anne McElvoy.

"Over the course of 2019, and the disagreements on Brexit, the levels of trust within the operation had reduced very much and there was some operational scratchiness."


'Cut through'

He said Labour's campaign slogan "it's time for real change" never "took off", adding "we never filled it in with content or with other meaning", giving the impression that the party was "throwing things at the wall".

The Conservatives honed their social media messages during the campaign before unleashing a barrage of "negative, nasty messages about Jeremy" in the final days, says Mr Schneider.

Isaac Levido, the Australian strategist who ran the Conservative campaign, said he had no regrets about any of the party's messages.

He describes a much-criticised social media video, edited to show Sir Keir Starmer apparently unable to answer a question on Labour's Brexit position, as "a little bit of fun".

"From time to time you need to do things that cut through," he added.


'We won'

He also revealed that he had tried to maintain morale at Tory HQ by playing music, including One Day More, from the musical Les Miserables, on the eve of polling day.

"I think there was a bit of a sing-a-long. People were quite delirious by that point," he added.

Cabinet Minister Michael Gove is asked if it was a mistake for Boris Johnson not to be interviewed by the BBC's Andrew Neil.

"No, because we won," he replied.

"I'm sure Boris would have done brilliantly, but with the best will in the world and I am huge fan of Andrew Neil, the purpose of running an election campaign is to win so that you can govern the country well, not to agree to every broadcast bid."

Lib Dem leadership contender Layla Moran said her party failed to properly explain its policy of cancelling Brexit if it won the election.

"It made us look arrogant, and it made us look stupid," she says.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
×