Labour's general election review: fear of SNP one of four factors
Labour lost the last election because of fears over the SNP's influence, its policies on benefits and immigration, and Ed Miliband's weak leadership, an internal party probe has found.
The conclusions were expected to show voters were turned off by left-wing policies, but instead the report showed specific factors were at play.
The 'Learning the Lessons' inquiry was carried out by party grandee Margaret Beckett in the wake of Labour's disappointing performance last May, and will be published around the end of the month.
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Parts of the review were today leaked to the BBC by senior Labour sources, and revealed that manifesto pledges like a mansion tax "were the most popular" with the public.
Instead, the report says voters opted for the Conservatives because of four key reasons:
* Failure to shake off the myth that we (ie Labour) were responsible for the financial crash and failure to build trust in the economy.
* Inability to deal with issues of "connection" in particular failure to communicate on benefits and immigration.
* Ed Miliband was judged not be as strong a leader as David Cameron.
* Fear of the SNP propping up a minority Labour government.
The report also says the party was wrong to focus its resources on 106 key seats, arguing that its target list should have been shorter.
It also says the party should be "proud of our record of major social change" during the New Labour years.
Party bosses have pledged to publish the full report within the next two weeks.
A Labour spokesman said: "The formal process of considering the Learning the Lessons report is in its final stages and will conclude next week when it is presented to the relevant committee of the NEC. The Labour Party will then make the report public."
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