John Denham's Fabian Society lecture on 'Southern Discomfort Revisited' provides some great material for debate within Labour - especially in southern England. Full transcript is here.  John argued that Labour cannot comfortably govern the UK as a whole without a significant southern presence.  I have listed some of the key points he made, including (bottom paragraph) why electoral reform is essential.  On my own blog, I have also added comments made by Tony Travers, about how the changed political circumstances / culture mean the electoral pendulum may no longer swing back once a party has lost its base in a particular area - whether that be the Tories in certain northern cities or Labour in parts of the south / south-west.