TWO decades after she became acting Labour leader in the wake of John Smith’s death, Margaret Beckett has once again stepped up to pick up the pieces of a broken party.

Labour trounced the Tories in the European elections when Ms Beckett led the party for three months in 1994 under unexpected and unwanted circumstances. And now the veteran MP has been asked to lead Labour’s investigation into its worst election defeat since 1992.

Labour announced yesterday that Ms Beckett has been appointed as chair of its “learning the lessons from defeat” task force.

The party’s acting leader Harriet Harman said Ms Beckett’s job would be to conduct a “forensic, honest examination” of the reasons for the defeat. “Now is not the time to paper over the cracks,” said Ms Harman. “We need robust discussion and analysis, which at times might not be comfortable, but it is necessary if we are to learn, rebuild, and regain the trust of those who lost faith in us.”

Ms Beckett will head the 11-member group, which includes the candidates who lost South Swindon and Stevenage, target seats lost to the Tories. It also includes former Vale of Clwyd MP Chris Ruane, who lost to the Tories, and former Glasgow East MP Margaret Curran, one of 40 Labour MPs who lost their seats to the SNP. Leftwingers on the taskforce include national union officer Johanna Baxter as a representative of the members, and Islington councillor Alice Perry as a representative of local government. The public will be invited to contribute to the process online.