Jeremy Corbyn emerges smiling this morning as Labour MP slams celebrations over General Election result claiming ‘we missed an open goal and still lost’
Former shadow chancellor Chris Leslie said his party was left with serious questions to answer about whether it can govern
JEREMY Corbyn has emerged from his home today with a smile on his face as a Labour MP slammed supporters who celebrated the General Election result, insisting the party missed an “open goal”.
Former shadow chancellor Chris Leslie labelled it an "okay result" after Jeremy Corbyn's party secured a higher-than-expected 262 seats and significantly boosted its vote share.
But Leslie said Labour had still lost the election, despite jubilation from some Corbynites.
And he said the result left the party with questions about how to convince voters it can move from ";protesting about a government into being the government".
The ex-minister said there had been "fantastic results" in some constituencies where Labour had been rumoured to be under threat.
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But he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We haven't won that election.
"We shouldn't pretend that this is a famous victory. It is good as far as it's gone but it's not going to be good enough.
"Five years of Conservative government, I just can't, I'm afraid, be a cheerleader for that particular outcome because this was an open goal for all of us.
"We should have been getting in there."
Challenged if Labour could have won under another leader, Leslie said: "I've never known a more beatable Prime Minister than Theresa May – brittle, I think very, very wobbly and shaky indeed."
Pressed again on the question, he said: "I will never apologise for my view, which is yes, you've got to of course inspire people, absolutely, and we haven't done that well enough in the past.
"But you've also got to convince them of your credibility that you can actually move from protesting about a government into being the government. Those are the questions we've really got to ask ourselves.
"If we fail to ask those questions we may well at the next General Election get another 262 – we can pat ourselves on the back about that, of course that's better, but it's just not good enough."
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