The six things Labour can do now to avoid electoral Armageddon

Try attacking the Tories instead of each other. Seems obvious, but this has been rather neglected in recent months

Jeremy Corbyn’s allies applaud him as he is re-elected leader but divisions remain (PA)

There is plenty of evidence, or at least polling, to suggest that Labour will be annihilated at the next election. The party could quite conceivably suffer a collapse in support comparable to the one it experienced in Scotland last year, with its share of the popular vote ending up at the 25 per cent mark. Maybe it will happen anyway, but here is the path – the only path – Labour should follow now if it wants to avoid that fate, or even have a chance of winning power next time round.

1. Get real

Labour’s Blairites, “progressives”, right wingers and centrists need to get back into the fold, swallow their pride, eat their words and embrace any other cliche required. There are signs of acceptance at this early stage, such as talk of returning to the Shadow Cabinet. To put things in playground terms – and why not, given some of the childish behaviour we've seen – the Labour moderates have to accept that they have had a good run at controlling the party and it is now the left’s “turn” to have a go.

So that means the rebels going back into the Shadow Government and taking inspiration from the left-wingers who did the same in the Blair era: Clare Short and Chris Mullin, for example, and, arguably, John Prescott. Obviously you don’t want a portfolio that would just embarrass everyone. If you think giving the unions more power is a terrible idea, then avoid the business department. If you think Trident is a good idea you can easily ask to be given a job outside defence. If you get asked about these areas outside your brief then fudge it, talk about the party’s policies, claim your personal views are irrelevant and refer the query to your more enthusiastic Corbynite colleagues. Just don’t quit again.

2. Try attacking the Conservatives

Seems obvious, but this has been rather neglected in recent months. If you’re a front bencher who hates Jeremy Corbyn’s guts and loathes what Momentum have done to the party you love, take your frustrations out on Jeremy Hunt, Liam Fox and Priti Patel. You might enjoy yourself.

Don't forget Opposition is about opposing. You can leave policy-making to nearer the election. Just have some fun. You may not have to do anything anyway if you lose, plus you get to go on the TV more and it’ll help you hang on to your seat if Momentum move in to your local party (a pestilence you can do nothing about).

3. Make peace with the past

Meanwhile, if you’re on the left then you need to be nicer to the Blairites (shorthand for the rest of the party, especially sitting MPs). The electorate don’t despise Blair the way you do – and might even have benefited from some of the things Tony Blair and Gordon Brown did for them. Try, just try, to acknowledge the usual shopping list of Blair achievements: devolution for Scotland and Wales, restoring right of trade union recognition in the workplace, minimum wage, Irish peace process, fox hunting ban, freedom of information, investment in schools and hospitals, civil partnerships, expanding university education.

Tell your party that Blair, Brown, Alistair Darling, Jack Straw, David Blunkett, Margaret Beckett and Ed Balls weren’t neo-cons or Red Tories. Stop banging on about Iraq and putting Blair on trial for war crimes. Let the Parliamentary Labour Party have some say in the Shadow Cabinet and making policy. Appease them: they can’t get their control back anyway.

Discourage de-selection of MPs by making sacking decisions go to the National Executive for final approval. Offer hate figures such as Peter Mandelson, Angela Eagle, Owen Smith and Liz Kendall something non-controversial to do, such as promoting “regional powerhouses”. If they refuse, they look bad; if they agree, that’s a bonus.

Being nicer to your Blairite comrades costs nothing, won’t hold up a Momentum rally for long, and shows that you are a grown-up – even if you don’t really mean it and you secretly want to see “Mr T Bliar” behind bars. Successful political parties make the best of their past records. The voters like unity and magnanimity. It takes two to unify.

4. Unity, unity, unity

Have a list of stuff you all agree on – and you really do agree on a lot – and just keep parroting it until the media and the voters get the message. Jeremy Corbyn has started doing that and everyone should join in.

Three items will do, any more would be cumbersome. Here is an acronym for easy recall. NICE: the NHS, investment in infrastructure, comprehensive schools and the economy.

5. Fudge the tricky stuff

For Labour, that is defence, immigration and Europe. Every party does it. Send it off to a forum, call for a referendum, have two policies at once, anything – but please stop talking about things you will never agree on and hope the issue goes away. That is the best you can do.

6. Have another look at PR

If you ever get back in it won’t be by much. Proportional representation is your best route to hang on and have majority control in future governments – even if it means deals with other parties such as the Liberal Democrats.

Politics, a wise man once said, is the art of the possible. Labour has four years to repair the damage, stop scrapping and create something to offer the electorate. The next Labour manifesto may not be much good – some of it won’t make any sense – but at least Labour will still be in the game. If the Tories crash the economy, voters need to know Labour won’t make an even bigger mess of things. That much is still possible. Just.