Party of Defeat

2019 saw the Labour Party meet its fourth consecutive general election defeat, and its worst since 1935. Arguing that it is vital for Labour to regroup if it is to offer a serious alternative government, Lord Ashcroft draws on extensive research among real voters – especially those who have moved away from Labour in former heartland seats now represented in Parliament by the Tories. Diagnosis of Defeat explores the reasons for this extraordinary result and offers a frank and uncompromising portrait of the Labour Party as it is seen today.

Despite being described as the most successful political party in any western democracy, the Liberal Party of Canada experienced its worst electoral defeat in 2011. Reduced to third-party status, the Liberal Party of Canada was seen by some experts as a spent force doomed to disappear from the Canadian political scene. And yet, just four years later, the party surged ahead once more, winning one of the most decisive elections in Canadian history.