This New Labour revival could end with a party split | Seumas Milne

This leadership contest is being led by a Blairite agenda. But the debate demands the voice of the left

British politics is being reshaped across the spectrum, and it’s not a pretty sight. You might have imagined, after David Cameron’s election victory, that Labour would use its leadership contest for a genuine debate about how to regain power. After all, the result was as complex as it was unexpected. The Tory 12-seat majority, won on less than 37% of the vote, was nothing like the landslide portrayed. Labour haemorrhaged votes on its left to the SNP and Greens, and on the populist right to Ukip, but won more votes in England than Tony Blair did in 2005.

It failed in small-town England but advanced in London and big cities. It continued to lose working-class votes but bolstered its middle-class support. How to weave together a winning electoral coalition out of such fragmentation is far from straightforward. But you’d never know that from the response of Labour’s leadership candidates. Taking their cue  from Blair and a string of former New Labour luminaries, all have fallen in – with more or less enthusiasm – behind a Blairite agenda.

Related: Tristram Hunt withdraws from Labour leadership race

Labour’s leadership campaign has been led by a Blairite agenda which doesn’t reflect public, let alone Labour, opinion

Related: Ex-No 10 guru Steve Hilton provides David Cameron with food for thought

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