Do they really care about losing elections, though? The only problem is if a rival party actually does pose a threat to establishment interests. But if it just goes back to the tories or reform they can rest assured that nothing will change on the issues that really matter. If labour had cared about winning elections they would have stuck with Corbynism and ridden the huge wave of populism that came with his leadership. Instead they perceived that as the primary threat and did everything in their power to sabotage his chances and drive that populist energy away.

I remember Blair making some patronising comments about 'governance' and how people just didn't get the importance of ramming through deeply unpopular policies with no democratic mandate, because "that's what real leadership is all about" or some bollox like that. In other words being 'disliked' by the majority of the public is a sign that the pols are doing their job well - ie: serving the corporate & other ruling class interests at the expense of the working class.

cheers,
I