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Moving to the right could ‘blow up in Labour’s face’, warns Diane Abbott

During an openDemocracy debate last week, the former shadow home secretary challenged the idea that the UK’s Labour Party should move to the right to win back lost voters.

By Nandini Naira Archer
Moving to the right could ‘blow up in Labour’s face’, warns Diane Abbott
Diane Abbott at a 2020 rally calling for the House of Lords to back Lord Dubs’ Amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill | WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto/PA Images. All rights reserved
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Labour MP Diane Abbott has warned party members against becoming embroiled in the ‘culture wars’ debate, claiming it will “blow up in the party’s face if it’s not careful”.

Speaking at an openDemocracy debate earlier this month, the former shadow home secretary rejected suggestions that her party needed to move to the right in order to win back the party’s traditional voters, who abandoned Labour at the 2019 general election.

“There’s an idea around in the Labour movement… that in order to win those voters back, we have to move right on issues like policing and security,” Abbott said while discussing the loss of Labour’s ‘working-class’ voters.

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