by Mike Amesbury
Unity, discipline, being on message (with a coherent message), self-belief and a vision of hope are essential ingredients of a winning campaign. Over the last week a small and cowardly bunch of Labour MPs seem to be suffering from a collective dose of amnesia.
Take your minds back to the wilderness years of 18 years of opposition, the self-indulgent politics of many in our ranks and our disastrous elections campaigns of the 1980s and early 90s. These were characterised by regular mishaps, media briefings and counter briefings; with shadow ministers contradicting each other and untimely sniping about our own leadership.
Not only were we letting ourselves down, more importantly we let our supporters, potential supporters and nation suffer the consequences of Thatcherism. Please, please, wake up and smell the coffee and don’t do this again.
I, for one, am pretty determined to cheer on every Tory and Lib Dem defeat throughout the night of the 7th May 2015 and the early hours of the 8th. I don’t want to mark the day after my 46th birthday with pictures of this Prime Minister Cameron all over media, I don’t want another four years of him unleashing further hell on our nation.
For all its faults, (and there were quite a few) the Blair years were known for professional and disciplined campaigns – 1997, 2001, and 2005 (give or take the odd punch from John Prescott).
The harsh lessons of the wilderness years became engrained in the DNA of the Labour party. The electorate does not like disunity. A common joke amongst officials (of which I was one) and front benchers were references to Peter Mandelson instructing us to “breathe in and breathe out”.
Call me old fashioned if you will, but I have always been keen on winning elections in order to implement a Labour manifesto. We won an unprecedented three successive Labour victories, built a record amount of new schools and hospitals, introduced the minimum wage and implemented measures such as tax credits while reducing child poverty. This discipline combined with staying on a Labour message is needed now more than ever.
A Labour message that talks about, saving the NHS, building a million new homes, increasing the minimum wage, scrapping the bedroom tax, freezing energy bills and creating a responsible and fair economy for all. These are the only briefings that I want to hear as an activist.
Start breathing it in and out over the coming months, in the media, at public meetings and on the doorstep. Let us fight to be the country we should be, one that is prosperous and fair for all, one that offers my young son better opportunities than I had. For this we need a Labour prime minister making that victory speech on the 8thMay 2015.
Mike Amesbury is a Manchester City Councillor, a National Policy Forum Rep and former Labour North West Regional Official
Tags: anonymous briefing, Ed Miliband, general election 2015, loyalty, Manchester, Mike Amesbury, PLP
You’re old fashioned. These days ‘Change’ is more likely to be brought about by the internet, ‘Change.org’ and the like, if we define ‘Change’ as change in people’s behaviour; and the great unwashed Prophets of our time Bob Geldorf and Russell Brand. Politicians MPs and Councillors in fact have very little power.
A million new homes? The tories believe we need to build 300,000 a year (not including replacements) every year for a decade just to stand still.
So are you saying just standing still is too ambitious for you?
“A Labour message that talks about, saving the NHS, building a million new homes, increasing the minimum wage, scrapping the bedroom tax, freezing energy bills and creating a responsible and fair economy for all. These are the only briefings that I want to hear as an activist.”
Hmm
Activists don’t win elections. Voters do
You say: “built a record amount of new schools and hospitals, introduced the minimum wage and implemented measures such as tax credits while reducing child poverty”.
I take issue with this statement. tax credits is just a means of subsidising low pay through the tax system, the government is subsisiding low pay employers. It is incredible you think this is a good thing. As for the record number of schools and hospitals being built, we now know all this was paid for out of bank profits made because of labour’s huge deregulation of the banks that ended with catastrophe for the UK. Again, you seem happy that schools and hospitals were built through borrowed money and PFI. Scandalous.
We’re now starting to get the first of a wave of opinion polls that will put Labour on or even below 30%. Part of the reason for the decline is thought to be increased exposure of Miliband lately – apparently the more he’s seen, the lower the vote goes.
In addition they are still declining in Scotland and rapidly approaching 20% (The acceleration on decline being blamed on Murphy standing).
Rochester & Strood – Labour’s share in the opinion polls is 17% and falling – down on the 2010 GE figure of 28%. And it certainly hasn’t gone to the Lib Dems or the Tories.
Couldn’t agree more Jim. It is beyond belief that any Labour MP would publicly brief against his own leader a few months before the general election. In what way do they think this will improve our chances of winning?
Parties that win elections are disciplined and motivated. They speak with one clear voice. The electorate will shun the disunited and the ill disciplined.