Neal Lawson’s opinion piece (After 44 years as a Labour member, I spent 18 months facing expulsion. This is what the party got wrong, 21 November) was a stark reminder of the risks of party tribalism to those who espouse liberal, progressive values. As a lifelong political activist reinstated into the Green party after my expulsion for supporting tactical voting to unseat a senior Tory, I know first‑hand the risks of political tribalism. This entrenched behaviour deprived progressives of any political representation in my own borough of Waverley in south‑west Surrey for many years.
With the unique exception of the circumstances of the last general election, our first-past-the-post voting system hands victories to the right despite its minority support. The election of a Conservative party leader from the extreme right, capable of coming to a deal with Reform UK, signals the potential for a seismic shift to the extreme right in the next general election if progressives fail to collaborate.
