Focus like a laser on the Tories, Blair tells party
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Tony Blair, the Labour leader, yesterday demanded unity and discipline in the run-up to the general election, at a special meeting of his Shadow Cabinet which reviewed polling evidence of the damage inflicted by the row over Harriet Harman's choice of school.
At a "strategy session" of the Shadow Cabinet in London, Mr Blair urged his colleagues to "focus like a laser" on the Conservative record.
Shadow ministers were buoyed by a convincing win in Thursday's by-election in Hemsworth, Yorkshire, which saw a robust 5.4 per swing from an already low Tory base to Labour. But Labour's Jon Trickett failed to crush Brenda Nixon, candidate for Arthur Scargill's Socialist Labour Party. Ms Nixon polled nearly 1,200 votes and saved her deposit, gaining more than 5 per cent of the total.
The Shadow Cabinet was also given a sobering presentation of polling data which suggested the row over Ms Harman's decision to send her son to a selective school had damaged the party's standing.
In-depth research among small groups of floating voters is believed to show that most of them agree with the Tory jibe that Ms Harman says "do as I say, not as I do".
The row has had a bigger impact on the public's views about the Labour Party than anything else since Mr Blair became leader in July 1994, straining the "fragile" trust of voters who have come over to Labour in the past 18 months.
A spokesman for Mr Blair said the party's research showed that Ms Harman's controversial decision was a "talking point", but "did not shift many votes". But he said: "We will take a hit in the polls, mainly because we appeared on the defensive."
The Shadow Cabinet yesterday agreed a theme for a series of speeches and Commons debate over the next few weeks: "You're not safe with the Tories."
However, Michael Heseltine, the deputy prime minister, claimed: "Tony Blair has emerged from three weeks of political misjudgment rattled and in disarray.
''This is a man creating the conditions for a fifth period of Opposition."
Hemsworth result: Lab hold (maj 13,875), turnout 21,993 (39.5 per cent, down 36.5 points from 1992). Jon Trickett (Lab) 15,817 (71.9 per cent, up 1.1 points); Norman Hazell (C) 1,942 (8.8 per cent, down 9.8 points); David Ridgway (LD) 1,516 (6.9 per cent, down 3.7 points); Brenda Nixon (Socialist Labour Party) 1,193 (5.4 per cent); Lord David Sutch (Monster Raving Loony Party) 652; Peter Davies (UK Independence Party) 455; Peggy Alexander (Green) 157; Mark Thomas (Mark Thomas Fri Nights Channel 4) 122; Michael Cooper (National Democrat, formerly National Front) 111; Dianne Leighton (Natural Law Party) 28.
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