On the eve of the general election, Ed Miliband declared that Labour had won the 'ground war'. He proclaimed that his activists had been in touch with many more voters than his opponents: 'We have had five million conversations. This will go to the wire.'
Yet the Conservatives went on to win a majority for the first time in more than two decades - while Labour lost seats in England, and were all but wiped out in Scotland. How could they get it so wrong?
Iain Watson followed the Labour campaign around Britain, and now he examines what its senior politicians are now calling the party's 'political and organisational failures.'
He exposes the high-level divisions over when to rule out a deal with the SNP, the gulf between perception and reality over Labour's level of support, and looks at the more successful campaigns of the Conservatives and Scottish Nationalists.
He sets out the challenges for the next Labour leader, having had his own conversations with voters, activists and senior party figures, and discovers there is no easy solution to the party's problems.
Contents
Acknowledgements 9
Preface 11
The Accidental Leader 13
There may be Trouble Ahead - The Election in Microcosm 41
Deal or No Deal 48
The Battle for Downing Street 53
From Builder to Soldier: Britain Succeeds When Working People Succeed 58
Funny Business 63
Zero Sum Game 69
We're all Labour Here 76
Happy Warrior 83
Chips off the Old Block 86
A bit of Politics 89
A Taxing Issue 90
Education, Education... Fratricide 93
One Nation, No Vision? 96
Unions and the Union 100
Worry Points 102
A Flock of Starlings 108
13,000 Conversations 111
In Good Health? 114
Hold the Front Page 116
Missing a Trick? 120
Invitation Only 122
Campaign Stop 127
Not a Big Enough Difference 130
Put to the Test 133
Immigration and Exploitation 135
Marriage of Convenience 141
A Day at the Races 143
The Most Unlikely Cult of the 21st Century 146
Blood on His Hands, Blood on the Carpet 148
New Town Blues 151
Generation Rent 154
Marred by the SNP Myth 156
A Trip to the Theatre 158
Building Non-Traditional Support 160
Labour's Brand Problem 162
Dangerous Territory 164
No Question of Deals 168
A Question of Credibility 171
Mayday, Mayday... Scottish Labour's Existential Threat 178
Facebook v Foot-Weary: Right People, Wrong Conversations 184
Luvvies for Labour 190
Edstone 192
Message, Not Mileage 197
Five Million Conversations 199
The Strange Disappearance of Arnie Graf 205
A Little Less Conversation: Food, Drink and Fun 208
Breakfast in Doncaster 213
The Loser Always Wins? 215
Moment of Truth 220
Nuneaton is the New Basildon 223
Exit 226
A Question of Leadership 230
Appendices
Appendix 1 Clause 4 - Aims and Values 265
Appendix 2 Labour Party Leaders 266
Appendix 3 Selected quotes 268
Appendix 4 Labour Votes at General Elections 273
Appendix 5 Campaign Chronology 274
Appendix 6 Labour Party Leadership results announced
12 September 2015 277
Appendix 7 Miliband and Corbyn buzzwords 278
