The Labour Party suffered a crushing defeat to the Conservative Party in the general election winning only 203 seats compared to the Conservatives 365. That represented a loss of 59 seats from the 2017 general election for the Labour Party. Lucy Powell the Labour MP for Manchester Central discussed the different factions within her party with Ms Kearney. 

The BBC Radio 4 host said: “Is it going to be possible to be inclusive given how factional the Labour Party has become with different sides blaming different reasons?

“If you’re not a fan of Jeremy Corbyn you’ll say that it is his leadership at fault.

“If you do support him you’ll say it was Brexit.

“Some people will say it was the Labour Party policy on Brexit allowing for a second referendum which meant you lost all those northern seats.”

Ms Powell replied: “Absolutely and I think retreating into a factional based analysis would probably be the worst possible thing we can do at this junction.

“Actually I have found that there is a real appetite amongst Labour members from all different traditions to now actually come together and use this moment of coming together.”

Ms Kearney then asked: “Leadership contests aren’t normally the best atmosphere for people to come together and they end up having to take sides don’t they?”

The Labour MP responded: “Yeah unfortunately so and actually also leadership elections often become about superficial issues like peoples backgrounds and people kitchens and spouses and so.

“Rather than necessarily some of these deep challenges.”

Earlier this month Labour MP Liz Kendall called for Jeremy Corbyn to go and a “new leadership team” to take Labour forward following the party’s disastrous general election results.

Mr Corbyn has said he will not take the party into another general election but has failed to stand down as leader so far.

The Labour Party secured a staggering 163 less seats than the Conservative Party in the December general election.

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Liz Kendall said: “I think he should go and, I think, we need a new leadership team, if I’m honest and a new direction for the part.

“I mean with the scale of the defeat itself, I think we have to demonstrate that we understand how categorically we’ve been rejected by the public, that we are determined to listen to voters to hear what they say and to change.”

She added: “I think it’s very hard to do that. If the voters see and hear the same people saying the same things at the top of the party.

“It’s not just about Jeremy. Of course, Jeremy, of course, he was raised on the doorstep but it’s about something much bigger.

“It’s about the direction of travel that has happened in the Labour Party and that the voters didn’t like it.”

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