Independent Inquiry into why Labour lost

Autumn 2015-Spring 2016

The challenge

In the aftermath of Labour’s loss in 2015, an Independent Inquiry was set up by Jon Cruddas and others. It included representatives from Compass, Progress, the Co-op Party, the Fabian Society, the Labour Group of the Local Government Association, and the Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation. TCC was asked to contribute to the research, and especially to the parts of it based on the Values Modes methodology.

How we approached it

The 2015 campaign saw a last-minute swing to the Tories which no one expected. We included Values Modes questions in the polling for the Independent Inquiry, and then analysed these to understand some of the patterns; which groups did it do poorly and why? Interim findings were published after the election itself, with a final report released using a second wave of analysis after the 2016 local elections.

What happened

The Inquiry’s interim findings (see here, here, here and here) and final report were widely written about, in the Guardian and New Statesman, and on LabourList and in the Spectator. The work helped develop ways of using values as a prism through which to understand politics. TCC subsequently carried out further research (see here) in advance of the 2017 election.