I actually don't think a Labour loss in Hartlepool at this moment in time is necessarily bad or crisis worthy. What is however is the manner of the loss.
Labour was always unlikely to win Hartlepool. However the loss should not have been that bad. You've really got to be looking at the ground campaign there and that includes the Tory one, with Johnson turning up twice. Labour sent a known ardent remainer to a 70% leave seat, someone who lost their seat elsewhere in 2019 and had recommended taking NHS services away from Hartlepool. After a year of talk about needing to rebuild trust did a candidate genuinely just get selected because they have Dr in their name and that might land well in a pandemic? People trust doctors. Fuck me.
Labour is tactically being destroyed. Absolutely pounded. It is beyond a joke. Can't even get the basics right.