Over the past year, we have heard a great deal about non-voters from Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters. If they are to be believed, the path to Downing Street lies not through convincing those that voted Conservative in 2010 and 2015 but by engaging with those that chose not to vote at all. We are told that what these ‘left behind’ voters really crave is a clear alternative to conservatism, Thatcherism, neo-liberalism and/or Blairism. (Delete as appropriate)

Yet it was not Corbyn’s pledge to renationalise the railways or to crack down on tax avoidance that brought the ‘left behind’ out in record numbers – it was the European Union referendum. The ‘left behind’ in Labour’s heartlands across the north of England voted to leave the EU. Taking back democratic control over the number of immigrants entering Britain won out above all. It certainly was not the result that I was hoping for but as a democratic exercise it succeeded in engaging millions of voters that Labour has long since stopped having anything to say to.

So why then is Labour’s leader silent when the government’s politically-motivated boundary review seeks to disenfranchise these newly engaged voters? Two million voters on the register for the EU referendum have been shut out in the boundary review’s recommendations. Yet the leader that has pledged so often to speak for the ‘left behind’ has said nothing. In fact, it would seem that Corbyn and those around him are willing to concede the changes to parliamentary boundaries in order to purge moderate Labour members of parliament on the quiet.

In the past, Corbynistas have been quick to blame the last two election losses on a lack of ‘real’ opposition and claim that Corbyn has provided it. Where is it on boundaries? Any Labour leader worth their salt would have toured the nation’s television and radio studies decrying the changes as a myopic, mean-spirited attempt at locking Labour out of power for a generation. Instead, we are forced to endure the spectacle of Corbyn-supporting MP after Corbyn-supporting MP refusing to rule out using the boundary changes to do what local Conservative associations around the country failed to – turf out popular Labour MPs.

There is a human cost to this cynicism. Merton, for example, is represented by two members of parliament – the fantastic Siobhain McDonagh and the not-so fantastic Stephen Hammond. If the boundary review’s proposals are enacted, Merton’s twenty wards will instead be represented by five members of parliament. The administrative headache this would cause would mean local authorities would be less capable of working closely with their members of parliament, in turn producing worse outcomes for residents. Historic communities such as the one that I represent – the St. Helier estate – will be carved up, solely to damage Labour’s electoral prospects.

There are many obstacles to overcome if Labour is to ever have a meaningful reconciliation with ‘left behind’ voters – many of whom voted to leave the EU despite the party’s, if not its leader’s, best efforts. Indeed, research commissioned by the TUC indicates that non-voters, when prompted, break towards parties of the right and favouring a tougher line on immigration, spending and welfare. Labour must be capable of providing credible, progressive answers to these concerns. A beginning to such a reconciliation, however, must begin by treating the ‘left behind’ as people, not numbers on a spreadsheet or pawns in a struggle that could not be more alien to their lives.

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Jerome Neil is events officer and editorial assistant at Progress. He is also a Labour councillor in the London borough of Merton He tweets @JeromeNeil

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