Nick Cohen talks to John McTernan - , the political strategist and commentator, and a former senior advisor to the Labour Party. John was Tony Blair's Director of Political Operations from 2005-2007 before acting as special advisor to two cabinet ministers under Blair's Number 10 successor - Gordon Brown. Other roles since then has been as a columnist at The Scotsman and as Director of Communications for Australia's Labor party prime minister Julia Gillard.

The Conservative Party appears to be crumbling before our very eyes: poorly led, tanking in the polls way behind Reform, myopically fixated on failed crank ideologies like Brexit & its preposterous Rwanda migrant scheme - while Nigel Farage surges ahead of them in the polls with his latest political vehicle - Reform. The first step to seeing off the populist right embodied by Farage, argues John, is to understand his appeal , adding "Farage sees the demand for change in the public, names his party Reform, another word for change, and is going quite successfully, just simply stating "The country voted for change. Where's the change?"

John says that Labour has to be aware of the coalition support. - the two wings of different supporters the party needs to balance out on a wide range of issues and win round, saying "they elected us this time around, and that was a coalition of two halves. It was absolutely liberal minded, guardian reading, graduate London and South East voters, as well as, working class, Northern voters... if Labour moves too far in either direction towards the liberal green minded green agenda, or towards, the right wing agenda, it will lose.

"It's got to maintain both of those wings. You know, a plane flies on two wings. This government needs two wings of support. So I would be, my advice into combating Farage us is take him seriously. This is real, you can't ignore it. Understand the dynamics that are working out on the right of politics everywhere in Europe."

Nick Cohen's @NickCohen4 latest Substack column Writing from London on politics and culture from the UK and beyond.

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