It was inevitable that the British Labour Party would be subjecting itself to deep soul-searching after the crushing defeat it suffered in the past few days. While I always felt that Ed Miliband was a non-starter from day one, like most other analysts and opinion makers I felt that things were most likely to go the Tories’ way but always with a hung parliament.

Most commentators speculated about how Britain seemed predestined to face weeks, not days, without an effective government due to the coalition talks that they had envisaged.

Those who ignored the battle of the final days did so at their own peril, since it focused on the several million undecided voters, including those who had a preference but said that they may or could change their minds.

Chuka Umunna, who is being considered as a likely candidate for the leadership of the BLP, admitted that Labour made the gross mistake of speaking to its core voters but not to aspirational middle-class ones.

“We talked about the bottom and top of society,” he argued, “about the minimum wage and zero hour contracts, aboutmansions and non-doms but we had too little to say to the majority of people in the middle.”

Even worse, Labour allowed the impression to arise that they were not on the side of those who are doing well. Quite rightly they talked about the need to address ‘irresponsible’ capitalism, for more political will to tackle inequality, poverty and injustice but then went on to talk too little about thosecreating wealth and doing the right thing.

Ironically Labour’s policy offer waspro-business, but the rhetoric often suggested otherwise.

And sometimes, as Umunna continued to argue, they made it sound like they saw taxing people as a goal in itself, rather than a means to an end. Their worst mistake was that while the Tories focused on themarginals with an almost military discipline and precision, the Labour Party treated parts of the electorate as no-go areas.

Unless they make it clear that even those too rich or too poor can be part of their party, they will continue to fail to engage a large number of voters that they could potentially someday take directly from the Conservatives.

Labour were also weak in tackling the legacy of their recent past in a manner that did not allay the concerns somevoters had about them.

Labour simply did not come across as the party that could deliver on its promises – primarily that of having the ability to make people’s lives better. One of their major failures being that of failing to champion a smart, efficient public sector that used technology and a pragmatic ‘what works’ approach to get things done.

In spite of being the party of internationalism, Labour also failed to offer a clearer vision of Britain in the world.

Labour simply must not only rebuild itself and if need be reinvent itself, but also stop looking to the past and focus on ensuring everyone has a stake in the future.

Labour must make of itself a force for progressive change in people’s communities every day, not just every five years

Tony Blair might be hated for having dragged Britain into at least three wars as well as for having apparently cashed in on his political contacts when in office to see his consultancies flourish, but a Prime Minister who took Labour out of the wilderness and helped win it three elections cannot be dismissed lightly.

This is why his appeal that the party has to be for ambition and aspiration as well as compassion and care cannot fall on deaf ears.

He spoke of the need to reoccupy the centre ground of British politics as well as to proudly champion a pro-business agenda. Miliband’s biggest failure was not simply that he did not seem to have what it takes to make it as Prime Minister but rather than opting for a centre-left agenda he went for a left of centre one that alienated the business community and failed to appeal to those wanting to get on in life.

As he put it subtly: hard-working families don’t just want us celebrating their hard work; they want to know that by hard work and effort they can rise up and achieve.

They want to be better off and they need to know we don’t just tolerate that, wesupport it!

Suffering a defeat worse than Gordon Brown’s, Labour needs to keep its weeks of bitter arguments on directional change as short as possible and begin addressing the arduous task ahead.

Labour can still advance the case for greater equality if it does so within a wider pro-business agenda.

Labour must make of itself a force for progressive change in people’s communities every day, not just every five years.

Blair had won Labour a reputation as the party of aspiration. Labour lost this under Miliband.

It is indeed time for a proper rethink.

Labour needs to convince voters that it could be trusted to manage the economy as well as champion social justice.

Talking of a fairer, better Britain without instilling confidence in the ability of a government to manage the economy competently will not suffice.

In attempting to own the future, Miliband, according to Alan Johnsonlet the Tories trample over Labour’s economic past.

As with Neil Kinnock in 1992, something went badly wrong for Labour in the end. And unlike that election, it was not the exit poll!

I would summarise the Tories’ victory on three core issues: the economy, Miliband’s weak leadership, and the way Tory strategists helped seep the threat of a Labour/SNP tie-up into the public consciousness.

Leo Brincat is Minister for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change, and is a former international secretary of the Labour Party.