Labour could be heading for a repeat of its infamous 1992 general election defeat, party insiders fear, with Lord Kinnock admitting voters “don’t love Sir Keir Starmer” yet.
Neil Kinnock, who was the party’s leader more than 30 years ago, failed to win the keys to Downing Street, despite most pundits anticipating he would be Britain’s next Prime Minister.
However, it was John Major – who had only replaced Margaret Thatcher two years earlier – who emerged triumphant, with Labour having to wait another five years to get its hands on the keys to Number 10 under the leadership of Tony Blair.
The deep psychological scars that surprise defeat left was acknowledged by party chairman Anneliese Dodds, who told the Daily Telegraph she was not taking anything for granted despite Labour’s healthy lead in the opinion polls.
She said: “We can be very good at losing elections people thought we would win. Think of 1992.”
Meanwhile Pat McFadden, Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator, who was an adviser to Tony Blair in the aftermath of the 1992 setback, is understood to be urging colleagues against complacency.
Lord Kinnock told BBC Radio 4 he acknowledged voters were not yet convinced by Labour, with victory in the election Rishi Sunak is expected to call in the autumn far from guaranteed.
Specifically he was asked whether it was true to say while “deeply disillusioned with the Tories” the electorate was “not yet fully convinced or in love with the Labour pitch”.
He replied: “I think that’s fair. And I think that it’s pretty natural after 14 years of continuous Conservative-led and Conservative governments.
“Expressing enthusiasm is different from expressing desperation. People will say “let’s get the bloody Tories out’” but they won’t say ‘Hurrah hurrah, marvellous, freedom, liberation is with us because of Keir Starmer.’ They are entirely different departments of human sentiment.”
Lord Kinnock said he could say “with some certainty we’re not going to lose”.
However, he said: “When it comes to trying to guess the possibility of majorities – large, medium, small – I simply won’t engage in that because we’ve got a first-past-the-post system which can be very capricious.”
He also refused to say whether he believed this election was more like 1992 or 1997, when Mr Blair won a record majority for his party.
He added: “‘97 was exceptional in many ways. This one is too. And frankly I actually think that Keir’s sobriety, his maturity, his steadiness, his dependability are really useful and essential features of the political landscape now.”
Lord Kinnock famously appeared at a huge Labour rally in Sheffield days before the 1992 election, excitedly shouting: “We’re alright!” in a moment which has frequently been cited as a PR gaffe.
Despite his party holding a slim but consistent lead in the polls, it was the Tories who triumphed, with Mr Major winning 41.9 percent of the popular vote, 376 seats and a working majority of 21.
Mr Kinnock, who won 34.4 percent of the vote and 229 seats, resigning as leader shortly afterwards. He has consistently rejected suggestions that the rally cost him the election, suggesting it had been “lost” before it happened.
