AS the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader rumbles on, it appears increasingly clear there is a divide in the party and among the candidates about why they are where they are.

On the one hand, you have those who are continuing to think of Labour's election disaster in purely economic terms, saying "we won the argument" (they didn't) such as Rebecca Long-Bailey and those who rightly recognise that the party's traditional voters feel for one reason or another that the party does not represent them such as Clive Lewis.

It seems not enough of the candidates are addressing the point that it was leadership and values more than economics or policy that lost them the election.

As the political guru Professor Matthew Goodwin said, we now have an electorate divided by social values rather than economic interests.

What has happened to the traditional Labour vote is that they have retained typically conservative social values, while still being fairly liberal economically, hence why Labour's policies were more popular and recognisable among voters on the doorstep, but voters felt increasingly uneasy with the direction and pace of social change, alienating them from a Labour party which has, at times, tried too hard to be ultra progressive.

Whoever wins the Labour leadership after Corbyn will be handed a hospital pass, let's be honest. To prevent Boris Johnson from securing a majority in 2024 they need to win and reclaim an enormous amount of seats.

To have any chance of winning power back, Labour needs a leader who can recognise the shift the party needs to make to reconnect with voters, and none of this crop look immediately ready to do that.

Whoever wins the leadership needs to recognise the concerns of traditional Labour voters who did not want to vote Conservative, but felt they had to. It is not racist to be concerned with the town you grew up in changing. It is not racist to be concerned that your children cannot afford a house. These are genuine concerns, and Labour are paying the price for ignoring these for too long.

Whether you are a Labour supporter or not (I am not) - we need a credible and functioning opposition in parliament to make our democracy function, so it is in all our interests that the leadership issue is resolved soon.