Meacher: leader must be voice of people

THE future Labour leader must re-engage the hundreds of thousands of people who don’t bother to vote, Oldham MP Michael Meacher warns.

Rising numbers of voters are feeling disenfranchised and voiceless - and not just the nine per cent of voters who abandoned the main parties to vote for UKIP, according to the Oldham West and Royton MP.

“There were untold hundreds of thousands who felt alienated by current politics and refused to vote, yet were burdened by grievances they couldn’t offload,” he said.

Those who feel marginalised are forced to turn to social media to be heard, tweeting and posting about their situations as democracy is no longer listening to them, he added.

Issuing a stark warning to the Labour leader hopefuls, Mr Meacher added: “If Labour is to regain its role as their representative, it has a huge job ahead getting in touch with them, listening to them, and taking part actively and enthusiastically in whatever campaigns they feel will meet their needs.”