Is the Labour Party dying? Jon Cruddas MP discusses Sir Keir Starmer's future after Hartlepool loss - a podcast by 5 News

Jon Cruddas has thought and worried about Labour losing touch with its traditional voters probably more than any other MP.

He first had to confront the threat of the BNP taking those voters more than a decade ago in Dagenham and he's been worrying about it ever since.

His commitment and integrity to Labour was reflected in the fact he won the most first preference votes in the contest to be Deputy Leader in 2007, and he's preferred to influence policy rather than take roles in the Shadow Cabinet.

He was asked by Ed Miliband to set out how Labour could maintain its appeal to its traditional voters, and has just written a book called "The Dignity of Labour".

In this frank interview he says there is no future in Labour abandoning those traditional voters and pursuing voters in cities and university towns - and anyway it would betray Labour's fundamental purpose, which is to represent working-class voters.

But he does share his concern that the party could die if it does not reconnect with those voters, he tells Andy Bell the way to do it is to look across the Atlantic at what President Joe Biden is doing.

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