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Playing to lose: who funded Labour’s 2019 election loss?
From straightforward second referendum groups such as Led by Donkeys to outrageously transparent Tory entities like Working 4 UK, SOLOMON HUGHES documents the range ‘non-party campaigners’ who invested in Corbynism’s failure
Former Labour MP Ian Austin launches Mainstream, the new campaign against extremism, outsiFormer Labour MP Ian Austin launches Mainstream, the new campaign against extremism, outside the Labour Party Conference inde the Labour Party Conference in Brighton

MAINSTREAM, the anti-Corbyn group led by former Labour MPs Ian Austin, Ivan Lewis and Mike Gapes, used Tory-led PR firm Public First to run its 2019 election activities.

Figures from the Electoral Commission on spending in the 2019 election released this month show Austin’s Mainstream spent £134,457 on campaigning and advertising in the election. That’s a lot of money for a “campaign” with no grassroots members.

They got a lot of bang for their buck, as even the most artificial public event with Austin got strong media coverage. Austin was rewarded by Boris Johnson for his turncoat campaigning with a place in the Lords.

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