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Good MPs and committed activists DO make the difference, says Bex Bailey

06/06/2010, 08:27:52 AM

Douglas Alexander called it the “word of mouth election”. Gordon Brown said it would be fought “street by street, school-gate by school-gate, workplace by workplace”. And now Labour leadership candidates trip over each other as they scrabble to praise our grassroots supporters.

I spent the election campaigning for Vernon Coaker in Gedling, the only key seat retained in the East Midlands. What I saw there was a campaign with local activism at its heart that produced a victory many thought unlikely.

In the speech announcing Labour’s campaign pledges back in February, our then Prime Minister said that the party’s secret weapons in the upcoming election were our beliefs and our policies. This was true. But our other secret weapon was each and every supporter of the Labour party. Those people who were out talking to voters, come rain, shine, or (as was the case many times in Gedling) snow. (more…)

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Sunday News Review

06/06/2010, 08:04:50 AM

The candidates

“The insipid campaign has laid bare the paucity of talent on Labour’s benches, and the party’s ideological exhaustion. No serving Cabinet minister lost their seat at the election; Tony Blair aside, the Milibands and Ed Balls are the best Labour has. That’s a grim prospect if your colour’s red. Ed Balls has the panache of a Vauxhall Safira; and the two Milibands are trapped in a Beckettian whirl of meaningless jargon, convinced that using abstract nouns is a mark of vital intelligence.” – The Spectator

“”They have all grown. I got on very well with Ed during the campaign. But in the end you’ve got to make a judgment. Of all of them, I think David [Miliband] has got the most rounded political and policy skills that you need. I’m a pragmatist about this. I think about who can take on Cameron best.”” – Alistair Campbell, Independent on Sunday

“One rival, Ed Balls, Gordon Brown’s anointed heir, offers a clear contrast as a centraliser in the Fabian tradition, backed by Unite, the giant union. He has one great achievement to his name for which we can all be grateful: he convinced his master that Britain should stay out of the euro.” – The Times

“Labour leadership hopeful Ed Balls says he is the man to take Labour back to Number 10. As the campaign to find Gordon Brown’s successor gains momentum, the former schools secretary said he is the only candidate to hold on to the “New Labour understanding”. – Staffordshire Newsletter

Movement for Miliband

David Miliband says he will reform the Party

“Mr Miliband said: “We are at a very, very important moment. Instead of the leadership being ashamed of the membership the membership feels let down by the leadership, and it’s really important that those of us in a leadership position understand that. A fundamental part of correcting that is to reconnect the leadership with the membership.”” – The News of the World

“They include allowing Labour members to elect the party chairman; launching a “find-a-friend” campaign to double Labour’s membership; training Labour Party members to become community organisers; and maintaining, in opposition, the requirement for the Labour leader to have weekly meetings with a committee of backbench MPs.” – Press Association

Policy pronouncements

“As Labour seeks to rebuild trust with the British people, it is important we are honest about what we got wrong. In retrospect, Britain should not have rejected transitional controls on migration from the first wave of new EU member states in 2004, which we were legally entitled to impose. As the GMB’s Paul Kenny and others have pointed out, the failure of our government to get agreement to implement the agency workers directive made matters worse.” – Ed Balls, The Observer

“In a BBC Politics Show interview later, Mr Balls is also expected to urge more debate about policy in the contest. Mr Balls’ comments could be a sign that dividing lines between candidates was opening up, says the BBC’s Iain Watson. David Miliband, another leadership hopeful, will also be speaking to the BBC to outline his proposed party reforms.” – The BBC

Burnham sprint finish

Andy Burnham hopes to make the cut

“Burnham’s campaign managers said yesterday they believed he would secure enough support to run. In his pitch to MPs tomorrow he will criticise new Labour’s courting of big business, saying it sent out the wrong message to the party’s core supporters. “We were in the thrall of big business. We lost sight of the impact that had on individuals and their circumstances,” he plans to say.” – The Times

“Andy Burnham is set to win enough support to battle for the Labour leadership. Party sources say the ex-Health Secretary will get the required backing of 33 Labour MPs before Wednesday’s deadline to be the fourth and final contender for the top job.” – The Sunday Mirror

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Crowdsourcing the leadership election

05/06/2010, 11:23:19 AM

What are the leadership contenders like? Can we trust them? Would they make good friends? Would they make good leaders?

These are basic questions to which it would be nice to know the answers. A 30 minute interview between each candidate and each party member would be nice.

But not really practical. There are, however, very many Labour members and supporters who, over the years, have had dealings with the leadership contenders.

Did Ed Miliband come to your GC? Did you once play football with Ed Balls? Was David Miliband the comedy brainy kid at your inner London comprehensive? Do you remember Diane Abbott from Cambridge? Did you do A levels at night school in Burnley with John McDonnell?

You did? Good. This is the place to tell your story. Post your experience below and help the rest of us decide – based on what the candidates are really like in real life – who to vote for.

This thread will be moderated and nothing off-topic, obscene or libelous will be published.

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The Labour right must shoulder the blame, says Daniel Hodges

05/06/2010, 10:49:39 AM

It was Labour’s right-wing which lost us the election. Yes, let’s undergo the analysis and the reanalysis. Call in the psephologists, the strategists, the tacticians, the organisers, the principles, the back room staff, the spin doctors, the foot soldiers. Let’s hold the inquest, have the debate, search our souls.

But at the end of the day, any assessment of Labour’s election defeat must return to the same place. Labour lost because it moved too far to the right.

Overly simplistic? Possibly. It is fashionable to say that the notion of ‘left’ and ‘right’ is out of date. Or at least it became an outmoded concept amongst ultra-modernising Labour ministers justifying their bold forays into uncharted Thatcherite territory. When it came to terrorising the party and the public with nightmarish visions of the dark days of the eighties, the same simplistic left/right definition did just fine. (more…)

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Saturday News Review

05/06/2010, 08:09:59 AM

The candidates

“To read the two Milibands and Mr Balls was like staring with furrowed brow at an apparently fuzzy picture, focusing and refocusing your eyes, trying to snap the image into sharpness until your head aches — and you realise that it isn’t your eyesight: the picture itself is just a blur.” – Matthew Paris, The Times

Tom Watson MP calls on the candidates to "meet some real people"

“All the frontrunners for Labour’s leadership are insipid-looking, clean-shaven boys from the suburbs. I can only get away with saying this because the nation knows we also have a prime minister and deputy prime minister who don’t yet shave. David Cameron and Nick Clegg are mollycoddled middle-class white men whose idea of an early shift is the Today programme radio car interrupting their morning cappuccino.” Tom Watson MP, The Guardian

“The battle for the Labour crown has yet to start in earnest — nominations close next week. Yet there are already widespread fears among MPs and members about its conduct: that a rarified debate about the party’s future is leaving far behind the voters needed to return it to power; that the candidates so far — white, male, 40-something, professional politicians — lack diversity and life experience; and that in trampling over each other to distance themselves from the unpopularity of the last government they risk ditching the good bits of new Labour as well as the bad and the ugly.” – The Times

“LABOUR must return to its left-wing roots if it is to return to power in Westminster, one of the party’s most senior Welsh figures argued yesterday. Counsel General John Griffiths said his party must make it clear it is on a “moral crusade” and wants to redistribute wealth if it is to return to power. The Newport East AM claimed it is a mistake for Labour to hide its socialist ambitions in order to appeal to “Middle England”.” – Western Mail

“Mr Miliband also said Labour had failed during the election campaign to effectively communicate all its achievements over 13 years, which included the minimum wage and huge improvements to public services. Despite serving as foreign secretary under Mr Brown, he says Labour was “too timid” on the role of government in the economy.” – The Coventry Telegraph

Movement for change

Foreign Secretary David Miliband prepares to leave home for his summer holiday on August 2, 2008 in London. Earlier in the week Mr Miliband gave an interview that was seen as a clear challenge to the leadership of Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

David Miliband promises to double Labour membership

“David Miliband will tomorrow present his blueprint for rebuilding the Labour party, announcing he is to channel a sizable portion of his campaign funds into retraining 1,000 Labour supporters as community organisers over the next three months. Attempting the first complete overhaul of a British political party with the techniques that helped Barack Obama into the White House, Miliband wants to turn the Labour party into a grassroots “movement for change”.” – The Guardian

“David Miliband will today set out plans to double Labour’s membership and give more powers to rank and file activists. The leadership frontrunner will say he wants to end the party’s previous era of “top down command and control”. If elected he will pledge to double the membership from 156,000 to 300,000 and hand members a greater say in the running of the party.” – The Mirror

Nominations

“Pressure is mounting for a relaxation of Labour rules to allow a wider leadership contest than looks likely if the nomination thresholds are retained. Calls are expected to be made for an extension of the nominations deadline when members of the party’s ruling executive meet on Wednesday June 9, the day of the deadline itself.”- Tribune Blog

“Labour MPs have so far refused to heed calls from unions and left-wing pressure groups to help the outsiders gain enough backing. Many of the about 80 MPs yet to declare are from the new intake, making their nominations hard to predict.” – The Independent

“West Yorkshire’s Labour MPs are split over who to back for the party’s leadership contest. Shadow energy secretary Ed Miliband has won the support of 47 MPs including two from Leeds – Hilary Benn (Leeds Central) and Rachel Reeves (Leeds West).” – The Yorkshire Evening Post

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Brothers stand fast against a “grand coronation.” Alex Halligan reports.

04/06/2010, 04:46:41 PM

Delegates at unite’s policy conference voted to ensure that all candidates are on the ballot in the labour party leadership contest. This is effectively an endorsement of the veteran leftwing MP John McDonnell. Unite is in the process of contacting MPs in their Parliamentary group and urging them to “nominate wisely” to ensure a proper contest.

The union boasts by far the largest Parliamentary group. And its influence within the party is far-reaching, having donated £11 million pounds in four years.

A packed fringe meeting hosted by unite’s ‘united left’ faction met in Manchester on Wednesday night and was addressed by McDonnell. Delegates cheered the rebel MP as he urged them to over-rule the unite executive, which they duly did the following day. (more…)

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Douglas Alexander explains why he chose David Miliband

04/06/2010, 01:28:22 PM

The Labour Party is nothing if it is not a moral crusade. So said Harold Wilson. I agree with that and I would add one caveat. We are little if we cannot turn our values into victories in Government – at a local and national level – for those we seek to represent.

I believe that David Miliband has good Labour values, can unite our party, and can lead us back to power at the next election. That is why I will be voting for him to be our next leader.

In our thirteen years in government, and before, I had the privilege of working closely with Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. I saw what it took to make the party electable again, to deliver that victory in 1997 and saw the strength needed to change this country in government. I believe that David can lead a united team to do that again. (more…)

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Ditch the old language, and start with ‘progressive’, says Jonathan Tanner

03/06/2010, 11:41:13 AM

It will be worth paying attention to the language deployed by the leadership candidates in the coming months. Not to listen out for bigots or balls-ups, but to identify the contenders’ capacity to try new messages on the campaign trail.

The Brown era was notable for a shift towards a more technocratic and less empathetic style of communication. But talking in millions and billions means zilch on the doorstep.

The former Prime Minister’s gift for over-explanation was mimicked by many when communicating our policies to the public. The Ashcroft affair was a good example. ‘No representation without taxation’ should have been the message, but instead it became bogged down in procedure and accountancy; losing the ability to slip easily into conversations between voters.

After thirteen years our other mantras were tired. While there is great value in repetition, our audience had reached saturation point. (more…)

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It takes a mayor to lead a city, says Liam Fogarty

03/06/2010, 08:11:28 AM

Londoners electing a Mayor seems like the most natural thing in the world. Hard now to imagine that it was once seen as a radical, even dangerous, innovation.

Yet the simple principle that a city should have directly accountable, visible leadership is being applied in just a handful of English cities and towns.

Three-term Mayors Dorothy Thornhill (Liberal Democrat, Watford)) and Stuart Drummond (Independent, Hartlepool) have emerged as popular local champions. London borough Mayors like Jules Pipe in Hackney and Lewisham’s Sir Steve Bullock can point to better services, greater public engagement and real strategic leadership as their mayoral dividend. The mayoralty of Greater London has become one of the most high-profile posts in British politics. (more…)

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Immigration is not the enemy, not the answer, says Rob Carr

02/06/2010, 03:59:01 PM

I’m puzzled. I’m puzzled by our leaders and by some of the commentariat.

I spent the general election campaigning on the ground. I knocked on a lot of doors, did a lot of phone-banking, talked to a lot of voters.

While I did most of that campaigning in Newcastle, it wasn’t the only place. I talked to voters in Bury. I talked to voters in London. I talked to voters in Nottingham, Scotland, Wales and the Southwest.

I had fantastic conversations in our word-of-mouth campaign. Conversations about SureStart, about jobs, about hospitals. I listened to voters’ concerns on the economy, housing, welfare, education, and human rights. I learned a lot about what people thought Labour had done right and what we had done wrong.

And having done all that talking, listening, communicating, I’m puzzled. (more…)

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