Ed Balls has warned Labour may “never” be elected as the government ever again.
The former shadow chancellor said he was “deeply fearful” about the direction of the party under Jeremy Corbyn - who was re-elected as Labour leader on Sunday.
Speaking to ITV’s The Agenda programme on Monday evening, Balls said: “do you really think trying to win from the hard left is going to work in Britain?’ I think there’s no chance.”
He added: “If there’s a general election and Jeremy Corbyn loses, that will refocus minds. I hope he doesn’t, but I fear that would be the outcome. It may be that Labour, as it stands, is never going to be elected again, but it’s not inevitable.”
Balls, who lost his seat at the 2015 general election, said it was “theoretically” possible that a new party could be formed if Labour split. “But the history in our country of new parties forming is a not a happy one, it’s a very, very difficult thing to do,” he said.
“People know that it’s a catastrophic thing to do, they know that the Labour Party is where you should stay and fight. There’s still an opportunity for Jeremy to change, there’s an opportunity for the moderates to recruit new members and re-shift the balance of power.”