Labour is on course to win the next general election “with a comfortable majority” after Boris Johnson’s byelection thumpings, David Lammy says.
The shadow foreign secretary argued the results in Wakefield and in Tiverton and Honiton showed there was no need for an electoral pact with the Liberal Democrats – because Labour will win outright.
The Conservatives are seeking to provoke a public backlash against an informal agreement between the parties which sees each focus on seats where they are stronger, describing it is a backstairs pact.
But Mr Lammy denied it and said of Labour’s win in Wakefield: “If that result was replicated across the country, I would be foreign secretary and Labour would, in fact, be forming the government.”
He added: “On that result in Wakefield, and indeed Tiverton, we would be forming the next government with a comfortable majority – that’s what that result tells us.”
Mr Lammy declined to say whether Labour supporting the striking rail workers demand for a 7 per cent pay rise – arguing it is not the opposition’s job to “pretend we can negotiate”.
And he urged Labour supporters to drop their hopes of rejoining the EU, pointing to the referendum result and telling Sky News: “The definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again.”
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