This simplistic narrative is repeated again & again: "traditional" working-class voters in north/Midlands (e.g. in Dudley) deserted Labour specifically because of Corbyn & his lack of patriotism. But the reality is much more complex & interesting... 1/9 https://twitter.com/pmdfoster/status/1289849333999792128

For example, a quick search on Wikipedia reveals that, in Ian Austin's constituency of Dudley North, Labour vote share fell sharply from 52% in 2001 to 38% in 2010. It recovered in 2015 & 2017 (46.5%), but then collapsed in 2019 (31%).

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In Dudley South, the situation is even more stark. Labour's share of the vote fell from 57% in 1997 to 33% in 2010, when the seat was lost to the Conservatives. Again, vote share rose in 2017 (36%) but then fell away to 25% in 2019.

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Anyone looking at the evidence can see that these patterns reflect much broader trends. Undoubtedly some voters in these seats rejected Corbyn specifically, but Labour's decline was much more long-term.

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This is partly due to political positioning but also demographic trends: these seats tend to have a greater proportion of older voters, who are far more likely to vote Conservative.

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The myth that many in the media repeat uncritically is that Labour dominated the "Red Wall" until a sudden collapse under Corbyn. It plays into the narrative that the new leader can easily win back support from these voters by reassuring them of his patriotic credentials.

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The reality is that Labour has been losing in these areas for 20 years under different leaders. Attempting to outbid the Tories on traditional "patriotism" won't work.

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What did work (in 2017) was recasting notions of patriotism around funding of public services, tackling poverty, supporting young people & challenging vested interests.

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If Labour can focus on that agenda, suitably tailored for post-Covid & post-Brexit Britain, it can win again. But if it goes chasing after the myth of the "traditional patriotic voter" peddled by newspaper columnists, it is lost.

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