John Healey rules out Lib Dem or SNP alliances but says report that party could shrink to 150 MPs is ‘warning’

Fears that Labour could slump to fewer than 150 seats at the next election are a “very serious warning” for the party, one shadow minister has said, after a Fabian Society report said it could get less than 20% of the vote.

John Healey, a minister in Tony Blair’s government, said he agreed with the Unite union general secretary, Len McCluskey, that the party’s standing in the opinion polls was “awful” but said the answer was not building alliances with other progressive parties, such as the Liberal Democrats or the Greens.

The thinktank had argued that Labour’s only feasible route into government was with the support of parties such as the Lib Dems and Scottish National party.

“It’s a serious warning, it’s a very serious warning,” Healey told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “Quite rightly, the Fabian Society say the roots of Labour’s problems pre-date Jeremy Corbyn. They were there in the 2015 election and in the 2010 election.

“These are big challenges for Labour. But I do not see the answer to Labour’s challenge being to team up with the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and a ragtag of other parties.”

Barry Sheerman, the Labour MP for Huddersfield, also said he was concerned by the “depressing” figures.

Barry Sheerman (@BarrySheerman) Depressing report from Fabian Society on challenges facing us to make Labour a more credible opposition @BBCr4today

The Fabians’ report said that examining Labour’s general election performance over the past 40 years showed that its share of the vote was eight percentage points lower than its poll rating in the second year of the preceding parliament. If this happens in 2020, the Labour vote could fall to 20% or less.

However, the report said the electoral system meant Labour would stay as the main opposition party – Ukip or the Lib Dems could tie with Labour on 20% of the vote but neither would win more than 20 seats, with Labour remaining at 140 to 150.

On Monday, McCluskey, one of Corbyn’s staunchest supporters, suggested the Labour leader would feel obliged to step down if there was no change in opinion polls showing Labour lagging behind the Conservatives by about 12 points.

Speaking to the Mirror, McCluskey said it was necessary to consider “what happens if we get to 2019 and opinion polls are still awful”.

Healey, the shadow housing minister, said the union leader was right about the polls. “Of course, he’s right, they’re awful,” he said. “The challenge for me now, and all of the shadow cabinet and Jeremy Corbyn as leader, is to demonstrate we can be a strong opposition and a convincing alternative to the Tories and that we can win over and win back public opinion, particularly voters we’ve lost in recent years.”

He said further internal division would not help the party’s cause with voters. “Our task now is to turn attention outwards, stop arguing amongst ourselves and win trust back, bring people back to Labour,” he said.

A spokesperson for Corbyn said: “Rebuilding Labour support after its fragmentation at the 2015 election was always going to be a challenge. But Labour under Jeremy Corbyn will be taking its case to every part of Britain in the coming months with a radical policy platform, offering the only genuine alternative to a failed political establishment and the fake anti-elitists of the hard right.”

