http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/05/10/uk-britain-election-labour-idUKKBN0NV09520150510

Labour took wrong path and must return to centre, grandees say

Sun May 10, 2015 1:10pm BST

The Labour Party must return to the political centre ground and acknowledge the aspirations of millions of voters it ignored in its election campaign, senior figures said on Sunday, as the party's crushing defeat hit home.

The Conservatives, who during their five years in coalition with the Liberal Democrats imposed huge public spending cuts, won a surprise overall majority of 331 seats in parliament and are now forming a single-party government.

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Blair, who won three elections in a row to be prime minister from 1997 to 2007, wrote in The Observer newspaper that Labour should be more inclusive and aspirational -- comments echoed by one of the frontrunners to replace Miliband, Chuka Umunna.

"The route to the summit lies through the centre ground. Labour has to be for ambition and aspiration as well as compassion and care," Blair wrote.

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Blair is now a divisive figure due to the legacy of his decision to lead Britain into the Iraq War, while Mandelson made many Labour supporters uncomfortable when he famously said he was "intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich".