I knew it was going to be rough last night but not even the deepest pessimist in me thought it would be on this scale. Whoever thought that in our most solid heartlands like Northumberland, Hartlepool, Blaenau Gwent, Wolverhampton and Merthyr Tydfil Labour councillor after Labour councillor would lose their seats.

Simply expressing disappointment and blaming the world economy makes Gordon Brown appear to be in denial about how serious the political situation is for the government. The new PR team in Number 10 can’t spin its way out of this electoral disaster. The announcement today that in response to Labour’s worst local council results in 40 years the prime minister is to re-launch a draft Queen’s speech borders on the delusional.

It’s not just the recent debacle over the 10p tax rate, the reality is that on the doorstep in increasing numbers people just don’t believe Labour is on their side any more. The 10p issue was important because it symbolised the unfairness of our taxation system which Gordon Brown as both chancellor and prime minister has failed to address. Increasing the tax burden on the poorest whilst non-doms and company directors pay less tax than their cleaners grates against our supporters’ sense of fairness.

New Labour has systematically alienated section after section of the coalition we need to win and retain power. The teachers and civil servants strike was an indication of the depth of anger about the pay cut strategy being imposed by the government. When 15,000 aggrieved police officers march through London and prison officers defy the law and come out on strike, the message of public sector workers discontent was loud and clear.

It is the same frustration felt by pensioners forced onto means tested benefits, students saddled with debt by loans and tuition fees, and families trapped on housing waiting lists for years because councils are not allowed to build the homes anymore.

In this climate of discontent and disillusionment Labour’s core vote is crumbling and the era of New Labour is coming to an end. The question that has still to be decided is whether the party is able to jettison New Labour and its outworn ideological baggage before the electorate does at the next election.

New Labour’s credibility was entirely based on its claim to electoral appeal. But now that voters are deserting us in their droves it has nothing to offer but electoral defeat. If we are unable to radically change direction and start to address our supporters’ key concerns, the party’s future is bleak. Our activist base is demoralised and disintegrating and we no longer have the foot-soldiers on the streets in many parts of the country to get our vote out. You only survive as a governing party in these circumstances as long as the opposition remains in disarray but as soon as that changes you’re in trouble.

It’s no use Gordon Brown saying that he’s going to listen and then carry on as if nothing had changed. We’ve got to demonstrate that we are back on people’s side once again. People just want fairness; fair pay, rights for workers, decent pensions, a fair and progressive taxation policy, access to secure and affordable housing, free good quality education and we need the government to start attacking poverty rather than the poor. Actually, all we need is a real Labour government.