I intend to write a fuller analysis of the problems facing the Labour Party whwn I have undertaken some more reading on the subject. However, here are some tentative preliminary reflections on the contemporary condition of the Labour Party.
First, Brexit has been a massive electoral gift to the Conservative Party. It has been the ultimate 'revolution from above'. To adopt Guiseppe di Lampedusa's terminology, the Conservatives have always grasped that for things to stay the same, they really have to change. The Conservatives have reinforced their power, but have persuaded many people that a vote for them is a vote for transformation. It could be re-formulated as a law of politics. (The personality of Alexander de Pfeffel has only exacerbated this trend ; it has not caused it.) The Conservatives find it very easy to metamorphose themselves ; the Labour Party has always found it difficult to do so. Labour's tacit assumption that 'moving on' from Brexit would yield votes has been shattered, as has Starmer's strategy that saying nothing on the subject of Brexit would help the Labour Party. It hasn't, because even the most politically disengaged person could intuit that most of the Labour Party was not pro-Brexit.
Second, the decline in the Labour Party's fortunes was already apparent by 2015, and had been occurring for many years before. It had been concealed by the nature of the first-past-the-post system, which has always understated the true level of Conservative support in supposedly safe Labour seats. The de-industrialisation of many areas of England, together with the decay of the institutions of the labour movement, such as trade unions and co-operative societies, emptied the Labour Party of meaning and purpose in many areas.
Third, the viability of the Labour Party has always depended on a tacit compromise between social liberals and social conservatives. The social reforms of the late 1960s under the government of Harold Wilson which ushered in the 'permissive society', were comparatively limited in ambition, and did not disturb this compromise. However, Brexit appears to have shattered it.
Fourth, people in late middle and old age form a very significant proportion of Conservative voters. It is a very relevant fact that many of these voters are owner occupiers, who have seen the value of their homes stay steady or rise. Conservative policies, which have favoured housing shortages, and speculation in land, have enormously assisted in this. Therefore, these voters, unlike the young, who increasingly are not owner occupiers, have a vested interest in these policies. This is a crucial factor in understanding the consolidation, and increase, in the electoral support for the Conservative Party. I overlooked this crucial factor in my blogposts in February on "'Stirring up apathy': why people still 'love' the Tories." The cultural factors which help to explain Conservative support cannot be understood without these underlying economic trends. If you have own something, you are very likely to defend it tenaciously. It could be seen as a posthumous vindication of Thatcher's sales of council houses and the virtual cessation of the building of social housing.