Working-class people in the North, Wales and the North East, in seats that have been Labour for 80 years, walked away from a party that chose the university common room over the smoko room. Purity over power. Labour was created to win government to represent the values and interests of people who work for a living. Instead Jeremy Corbyn and his comrades purged the party of electable MPs who voiced electorally popular concerns about the unelectable Marxist cult. In doing so, he delivered a storming fourth consecutive election win to a hapless, divided, promise-breaking Tory government. The Conservatives breached Labour's red wall in the North by speaking to the values of working people in those community.

Josie's column in the Herald discusses the outcome of the UK election and what it means for Labour in New Zealand.