Much has happened in British politics since labour last held the majority in Parliament. Our country’s young were tied up with lifelong debt from absurd tuition fee rises, scandles came and went and the UK has torn itself from the EU and is in the balance about just how united we are to remain. It has hardly been smooth sailing for the Conservative so why has the Labour Party not pressed its advantage and pushed to triumph at the elections like all sense says they should?

Instead, Labour has squandered its advantages in aggressive bouts of in-fighting and policy blunders. Labour has lost sight of what the party itself stands for and in the process has lost basically all of its support. Labour shouldn’t be seen as ‘the lesser of two evils’ that gain votes from grudging hands but should stand proudly for the workers of this nation.The ironic thing has always been how the working classes that have traditionally voted Labour are actually massively right-wing. People weren’t voting Labour because they necessarily agreed with their politics but because Labour was viewed as the working man’s party that would fight for their rights against the wealthy businessmen associated with the Conservatives. This has become more obvious in recent years as former Labour heartlands are swaying considerably towards UKIP.

No mainline group within Labour champions the working class any longer, whatever they might say in grand speeches. Labour has been moving towards the middle-classes since Blair while Corbyn’s far left politics is as far from the mindset of Labour’s traditional audience that it is laughable. Corbyn’s support comes mostly from young socialists and liberals who, let’s be honest, have never done a hard day’s work in their lives. And don’t get me wrong, I would consider myself in the same group  in regards to work, this is not a slight on those enthusiastic optimists who follow him.

My father has voted Labour for his entire life. He is a former miner and has always worked manual labour jobs. The same is true of my uncle who was a miner until only this year when his mine was finally shutdown. Both, for the fist time in their lives, currently have no intention of voting for Labour. If voters of 40+ years have been turned from Labour then what chance do they have?

Labour have lost Scotland. They have lost the working class. Young socialists cannot keep Labour competitive alone. The party is divided and their voter-base fading. It is a safe bet at this point in time that the Conservatives will again gain the majority at the next general election.

The Brexit vote proved that the working class vote was still a force to be reckoned with, and a force that has been misjudged and ignored for too long. If Labour don’t win back their support then they will slide from the top two positions to be replaced by a right wing party like UKIP. Not only will Labour crumble but left-wing representation in parliament will sink along side of them. The Liberal Democrats are dead in the water, their sights set only on their own feet as they continue to shoot themselves while the Green Party has less substance than a blow-up hammer. They promise the world to try and lure in idealists yet know full well that they could deliver on none of it.

Nothing that Labour has done of late inspires confidence. The party seems to be at war with its supporters, cutting members out from the leadership vote and constantly undermining its own actions and ideals. If a strong leader and a focused direction doesn’t emerge within the next decade then it will be the end of the Labour Party as a competitive force in UK politics.

The sad thing is that they have had plenty of time and opportunities to sort themselves out and take on the Tories yet they haven’t made it past the starting-line. Anybody can see this fall coming and if the inner party cannot come together after all of these warning signs then they can blame nobody but themselves.