Tessa Jowell says Labour has ‘lost the art of winning’

FORMER cabinet minister Tessa Jowell has said that Labour has “lost the art of winning an election” and faced the risk of further defeats in the years ahead.

Tessa Jowell described the May 2016 battle to replace Tory Boris Johnson as a "very big moment" after Labour's disastrous general election defeat. Picture: PA

Ms Jowell who is seeking selection as Labour’s candidate to be London mayor in 2016 said the contest in the UK capital could help the party “get that winning determination back”.

She said that if Labour cannot win in next year’s London mayor elections, it will not have won a big election in 15 years.

“That is really serious,” Ms Jowell said, adding that she thinks she is the candidate who can unite London and win the election.

Ms Jowell, speaking on BBC’s the Andrew Marr show, said: “We have got to get that winning determination back, and we start in London.

She said the “scale of our defeat” at the 2015 general election shows the party has “lost the art of winning an election”.