Missing out to Reform UK on a by-election win was a “wake-up call” for Sir Keir Starmer, the losing Labour candidate has said.
Karen Shore warned that Labour activists are in the “fight of our lives” against Nigel Farage’s party.
Ms Shore missed out on a seat in Parliament at the Runcorn and Helsby by-election in May, after Sarah Pochin beat her by just six votes.
At his party’s conference, Sir Keir used his keynote speech to criticise Mr Farage, who he said “doesn’t like Britain” and “doesn’t believe in Britain”.
The Reform UK leader responded by sharing his fear that Sir Keir’s language “will incite and encourage the radical left”.
Asked whether the Prime Minister was right to use this week’s conference to attack Reform UK, Ms Shore told the PA news agency: “I tried to steer away from those sorts of conversations during the by-election because I wanted it to be about what was on offer from Labour and not necessarily being on Reform’s own terms.
“But now I think the tactic has to be different, because they’re fearmongering and because they’re seeking to divide.
“And it’s going to be the fight of our lives.
“So, we have to get out there and make sure people really understand what a Labour government will do for them, and we are the party of working people.”
Losing the seat was “very disappointing”, Ms Shore added.
Labour had won the Cheshire seat less than a year before her defeat, with a majority of 14,696.
Ms Pochin overturned this result in the by-election, held after Mike Amesbury, who admitted he punched a constituent, quit.
“Actually, it was also a wake-up call, I think, to some of us within the Labour Party that difficult decisions have been taken, but also to acknowledge that mistakes have been made, and to try to address people’s concerns,” Ms Shore told PA.
She said these mistakes included “the way in which the winter fuel allowance was announced, the welfare reform – there wasn’t enough information there for people to understand the reality of what it would mean on the ground”.
Ms Shore continued: “I think that the fearmongering won over.
“You know, you have to take people with you when you take a difficult decision, and you have to make sure that those decisions are taken within our values, Labour values.”
She described fighting the “unpredictable” election against a backdrop of policies “that were unpopular” and being “a year into Government, having inherited a really terrible situation after 14 years of austerity” under previous administrations.
“So you can’t just pin it on the Prime Minister – I think that would be very unfair,” Ms Shore added.
She said she wanted to personally “go back and finish the job better next time”, pending Labour’s processes to select a candidate.
In his conference address, Sir Keir warned the country “stands at a fork in the road” with a choice between “renewal or decline”.
He continued: “A country – proud of its values, in control of its future, or one that succumbs, against the grain of our history, to the politics of grievance – it is a test, a fight for the soul of our country, every bit as big as rebuilding Britain after the war, and we must all rise to this challenge.”
Sir Keir described “a moral line” which he warned Mr Farage “crosses”, and added: “When was the last time you heard Nigel Farage say anything positive about Britain’s future?
“He can’t. He doesn’t like Britain, doesn’t believe in Britain, wants you to doubt it as much as he does.”
In response Mr Farage said: “This language will incite and encourage the radical left. I’m thinking of Antifa and other organisations like that.
“It directly threatens the safety of our elected officials and our campaigners, and, frankly, in the wake of the Charlie Kirk murder, I think this is an absolute disgrace.”
