62

62.5 per cent of voters have participated in ssm survey since 2012, so there would have been an increase of 10 per cent from 2010-11. It also means the party would now need to draw 6,000 more voters to the polls every year to ensure a 50 per cent share of votes in 2015.

‚The party is not doing well‘

However, Labour MP Hilary Benn said his party „shouldn’t feel guilty in the least for the fact that the gap between them and their electoral rivals is too huge to bear“.

„The only thing that matters is who can win a majority in the general election – that’s everything. This is about putting the whole country to bed first,“ said Benn.

Image copyright PA Image caption The BBC’s Andrew Harding has been asked to be the party’s election strategist

Labour leader Ed Miliband has sa우리카지노id he is confident a „clear majority“ will win in 2015. He has said he will not quit the frontbench, however, as he wants to be in government when the next election comes – possibly to 2우리카지노020.

Analysis: Andrew Harding, BBC Political Editor in the UK

The election results are the closest in decades for Labour. Its vote percentage is rising year-우리카지노on-year but it is still the most lopsidedly marginalised party in the country.

It is also the party’s most important to the national image – with a strong reputation for taking a tough stance.

Some might regard it as being vulnerable at the moment as the results are still to be known, and those who wish for it to lose seats and the power of its party whip – which has been frozen since 2005 – are likely to take note of the party’s weakness.

Meanwhile, in opinion polls, the party is trailing by just four points, its lowest result since the 1970s and the second lowest in recent memory.

Image copyright Reuters

With Mr Miliband’s party likely to keep a slender majority, party sources said on Friday he would be required to seek an executive in the event of another general election, with the prime minister now the only potential choice.

Labour would need a parliamentary majority of 25,000, according to calculations by the BBC, compared with just eight,000 for the Conservatives.

Labour has yet to say who would then replace Mr Miliband and if that would be former home secretary and shadow cabinet minister Chris Bryant or current home secretary Diane Abbott.

What next?