John Denham says that Labour is in denial about how much it needs to change to win power again. Although the party has accepted the scale its defeat in May, it has not faced up to "how big the challenge is".

"We have to rethink the last 13 years. We achieved a great deal, but it was built on a model of economic and social change that can’t be repeated", he tells the forthcoming Fabian Review.

In a wide-ranging interview, the shadow Communities Secretary gives a frank account of what went wrong in the election campaign and the political challenges now faced by Labour in opposition. 

He discusses his battle for policy influence within a factionalised Cabinet, the emerging consensus that immigration cost Labour the election, and how to reconnect with the south.

As the Independent reports, Denham - a long standing Labour pluralist and chair of the Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform - also says that any future Lib-Lab coalition would require the Liberal Democrats to find a new leader, and that they have "ceded all right to say they are a progressive party".

Read the full interview here, as well as analysis on Next Left.

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