Wednesday, 23rd May 2007

Labour cannot comfortably govern the UK as a whole without a significant presence in its largest and most prosperous region, argued former Home Office minister John Denham in a Fabian lecture. New Labour's unquestioned achievement was the solid base of councillors and MPs from the south of England. Read Denham's arguments on why that advance has been halted and, in many cases, reversed.

By looking at the lives and aspirations of southern voters, and by examining the stresses and tensions that lie beneath the south's apparent prosperity, John Denham argued at a Fabian lecture, that Labour can and should make a positive case to be a significant power in the region.

The former Home Office minister and Fabian executive member said: "The vast majority of southern voters have every bit as much interest in the outcome of public policy as anyone else. The issues they express most concern about – the health service, crime, housing, migration, education, the environment – are shared across the country."

He added: "If we look beneath the apparent prosperity of the south we can see plenty of issues that only Labour will ever tackle: of inequity, of exclusion and of unfairness. There are thousands upon thousands of voters in every county and every constituency who will have no one to stand up for them if Labour does not."

Full text of speech