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Also worth noting that some Conservatives (like Matthew Parris writing in the Times) are lamenting the current populism of the Tories. In the absence of Boris' charisma it's possible that the "Labour heartlands" will ultimately realise that the Tories cannot or will not level them up as promised. There may be an opportunity for Labour to position themselves to reclaim those areas in the future. It's an unpleasant route to a desirable outcome, but it's worth noting how good the Conservative party have become at creating or manufacturing a crisis and then convincing (amnesic) people that only they have the solution, through a mixture of nationalism, anti-immigration, social conservatism and fear-mongering about left-wing economic policies.
This is all shuffling deckchairs on the Titanic, but when it's already on the ocean floor. Basically, the Tories now have absolute control of all material media outlets and social media. They've gerrymandered the constituencies and changed the electoral laws to suit themselves. They've withdrawn funding from any area that doesn't vote for them.
No matter what leader Labour have, no matter what policies they put forward, they're never getting a fair hearing, or a hearing at all. The UK is effectively a one-party state, and has been for some time. This thread is a bunch of Japanese soldiers in the jungle still fighting WW2.