Influential Labour MP in ‘broader appeal’ call

John Mann warned that the “metropolitan elite” at the top of the party needed to bridge a gap with supporters who switched to Ukip or failed to turn out at last month’s European elections.

He was sharply critical of strategists who thought the rise of Ukip would be good for Labour by eating into Conservative support, and urged Ed Miliband to launch a head-on assault on the party, including posters in the north of England highlighting Nigel Farage’s promise to “keep the flame of Thatcherism alive”.

The Bassetlaw MP’s comments came amid an increasingly public tussle over Labour’s positioning for the 2015 election campaign.

The last few days have seen former Minister Charles Clarke call for a new “economic vision” to replace Ed Balls’ Plan B and warn that Mr Miliband “still has to convince people he has the capacity to lead the country”. A senior official at the Labour-affiliated Fabian Society has also called for a “radical” manifesto to broaden Labour’s appeal to blue-collar voters.

Analysis of the May local election results, published by the Fabian Society, showed that Labour won the most votes in only 30 out of 58 Conservative seats and six out of 10 Lib Dem constituencies which it was targeting in England.

The party also failed to secure most votes in nine constituencies which it holds – including six where it was outpolled by Ukip – suggesting a “worryingly small” swing towards Labour this close to the impending national poll, the Fabian paper said.