11:16

John Hannett, the general secretary of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw), has called the the result a “wake up call” and warned the Labour party not to “pass the buck”. Usdaw is a critical union affiliated to the Labour party but one of the few that did not back Corbyn in the leadership campaign.

Hannett told the Guardian:



We can’t dismiss these by-elections or blame other people - whether previous politicians or the media. All of that is a distraction from why isn’t the current Labour party connecting with voters.

Talking about issues that affected his members such as terms and conditions and Sunday trading rules, he said people needed a Labour government.



“Usdaw members whether in shops or factories are desperate for a credible opposition,” he added, arguing that while he applauded the scale and size of Labour’s membership, the party had to reach out further.





You can’t win an election purely from an internal base - you have to have vision and reach to people not yet convinced. Yesterday’s result is a further wake up call that there is a need for an urgent debate within the party, from the leader and across the piste, as to why we do not seem to be connecting with the wider public...

“We need to stop the blame game,” added Hannett, who said it wasn’t in the interest of the party to point the finger of blame at the media or Tony Blair.

