Thirteen years of a Labour government, ‘we (still) don’t trust the Tories’ and massive media hype launched the Greens to their narrow victory in Brighton Pavilion just over a year ago and has arguably, since led to them gaining a minority administration on Brighton and Hove Council.
The Iraq war was the tipping point with the Green vote rising from 3,806 in 2001 to 9530 in 2005. Some Labour voters, members and activists were lost for good. Some people said that those voters would have gone anyway and the Iraq war was ‘just an excuse’ but that kind of thinking is naive and exactly why we continued to lose votes – listen, acknowledge and then do something about it should have been Labour’s response but the message that went out was parental in tone, more ‘we know better’ than admitting we had got something wrong.
So with foreign policy turning off traditional Labour voters and a weak Liberal Democrat presence in Brighton, the Green strategy was simple – target the traditional Labour vote with traditional Labour policies. Roll up, roll up to keep post offices public, step this way, if you would rather spend taxpayers money on education and social care instead of Trident and identity cards.
Simple, hearts and minds arguments and it was clear there were enough like-minded voters to secure victory, but there was one, significant hurdle – voters in Brighton Pavilion, weren’t convinced the Greens could win a general election.
Enter stage left, Caroline Lucas - high profile, articulate and by the end a celebrity candidate. She played a trump card in fighting for the Greens to have a leader and combined with her elected status as an MEP, she became the natural choice for all media interviews securing herself a place on programmes like Question Time. Her profile just went up and up.
The timing was good for the Greens, the nation was clearly fed up with two party politics and the expenses scandal was sickening, especially for people on low incomes. With only one real target in the general election, the Greens didn’t miss a trick.
My public meeting on climate change with Ed Miliband was disrupted by Sussex students, resulting in the police being called. The student union paper, The Badger, reported, “Earlier that day the Green candidate for the same seat, Caroline Lucas, spoke to Sussex students and condemned the government’s education policies. She encouraged students to protest at the expansion of Heathrow airport and argued that direct action was justified if the government policies continued to ignore the environmental consequences.”
Brighton is a university town with a history of political activism, especially at Sussex University. Student numbers can swing an election in Brighton and tuition fees were a gift to the Greens. How hard can it be to decide where to place your cross on election day when there are three political positions presented; higher tuition fees from the Tories, a free university education from the Greens or, well, er…a ‘review’ from Labour. Did we forget how to do politics – why would any student vote for a review? The Greens consistently targeted the student vote and increased turnout from the universities.
As someone who didn’t get the chance to go to university, my heart lies firmly in the value of an education in itself, not as a commodity for those who can afford it, Once again, I was in a different place from Labour policy, but the local party was behind me and the traditional Labour supporters were sticking with me and that was what mattered.
It clearly bothered the Greens, they could trash New Labour, but they were having trouble undermining me. Their final tactic, a few days before the election, was for Caroline Lucas to publish an article , saying how much she respected me, but a vote for me wouldn’t get a traditional Labour voice in Parliament.
People liked the idea of an independent Green MP that wouldn’t say one thing to get your vote and then be pulled into line once they got into Parliament and this is something Labour needs to think about albeit with the realities of taking difficult decisions when in Government.
The media and the public loved the idea that the Green Party could break through and unlike the BNP, here was a political party with a clean image, proudly idealistic and saying a lot of what people wanted to hear. ‘The First Green MP’ made for a great headline and the media bought the story, massively talking up the Greens chances – this was their final hurdle and the media helped them to leap it.
So, can we regain Pavilion? For Green activists, this was a first time goal; it was not just another election. They galvanised a national campaign and aimed it principally at Brighton Pavilion and getting their first MP. Six figure donations enabled them to recruit full-time communications and campaign managers and I estimated the cost of their poster campaign alone during Labour Party Conference in Brighton cost around £30k.
To break through to Westminster generated excitement and interest – from Green party members, the media and voters. There will never be another first time and this will be a weakness in their next general election campaign.
I am proud of the campaign we ran, proud of our achievement in defying the bookies to finish second, with just 500 less votes than in 2005 and proud to have had the backing of the trade union movement.
I sought to genuinely engage with the community throughout, running local campaigns about housing, saving the local fire station, post offices and getting better facilities for young people. Campaigns were about things that mattered to local people, not just asking for their vote. We always reminded people of Labour’s achievements, but although people acknowledged these, they wanted a stronger vision of where we were going.
We worked hard to generate more Labour activism and people’s generosity was truly humbling but we had the resources of one constituency party in a marginal seat and the national party did not take the Green threat seriously.
Looking to the future, there are a lot of lessons to be learned, but I think the most important one is that the leadership recognises local Labour party members understand what works and what doesn’t, on the ground. The local Labour voice needs to be reflected in our policies and we need a mechanism that allows feedback to be used constructively not condemned as disloyalty. Elections cannot be about the stats and grimly hanging onto clearly unpopular political positions and simply arguing that a vote for anyone else will let the Tories in – that’s not good enough and in Brighton anyway, it simply won’t work.
Nancy Platts was Labour's parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion.
The Iraq war was the tipping point with the Green vote rising from 3,806 in 2001 to 9530 in 2005. Some Labour voters, members and activists were lost for good. Some people said that those voters would have gone anyway and the Iraq war was ‘just an excuse’ but that kind of thinking is naive and exactly why we continued to lose votes – listen, acknowledge and then do something about it should have been Labour’s response but the message that went out was parental in tone, more ‘we know better’ than admitting we had got something wrong.
So with foreign policy turning off traditional Labour voters and a weak Liberal Democrat presence in Brighton, the Green strategy was simple – target the traditional Labour vote with traditional Labour policies. Roll up, roll up to keep post offices public, step this way, if you would rather spend taxpayers money on education and social care instead of Trident and identity cards.
Simple, hearts and minds arguments and it was clear there were enough like-minded voters to secure victory, but there was one, significant hurdle – voters in Brighton Pavilion, weren’t convinced the Greens could win a general election.
Enter stage left, Caroline Lucas - high profile, articulate and by the end a celebrity candidate. She played a trump card in fighting for the Greens to have a leader and combined with her elected status as an MEP, she became the natural choice for all media interviews securing herself a place on programmes like Question Time. Her profile just went up and up.
The timing was good for the Greens, the nation was clearly fed up with two party politics and the expenses scandal was sickening, especially for people on low incomes. With only one real target in the general election, the Greens didn’t miss a trick.
My public meeting on climate change with Ed Miliband was disrupted by Sussex students, resulting in the police being called. The student union paper, The Badger, reported, “Earlier that day the Green candidate for the same seat, Caroline Lucas, spoke to Sussex students and condemned the government’s education policies. She encouraged students to protest at the expansion of Heathrow airport and argued that direct action was justified if the government policies continued to ignore the environmental consequences.”
Brighton is a university town with a history of political activism, especially at Sussex University. Student numbers can swing an election in Brighton and tuition fees were a gift to the Greens. How hard can it be to decide where to place your cross on election day when there are three political positions presented; higher tuition fees from the Tories, a free university education from the Greens or, well, er…a ‘review’ from Labour. Did we forget how to do politics – why would any student vote for a review? The Greens consistently targeted the student vote and increased turnout from the universities.
As someone who didn’t get the chance to go to university, my heart lies firmly in the value of an education in itself, not as a commodity for those who can afford it, Once again, I was in a different place from Labour policy, but the local party was behind me and the traditional Labour supporters were sticking with me and that was what mattered.
It clearly bothered the Greens, they could trash New Labour, but they were having trouble undermining me. Their final tactic, a few days before the election, was for Caroline Lucas to publish an article , saying how much she respected me, but a vote for me wouldn’t get a traditional Labour voice in Parliament.
People liked the idea of an independent Green MP that wouldn’t say one thing to get your vote and then be pulled into line once they got into Parliament and this is something Labour needs to think about albeit with the realities of taking difficult decisions when in Government.
The media and the public loved the idea that the Green Party could break through and unlike the BNP, here was a political party with a clean image, proudly idealistic and saying a lot of what people wanted to hear. ‘The First Green MP’ made for a great headline and the media bought the story, massively talking up the Greens chances – this was their final hurdle and the media helped them to leap it.
So, can we regain Pavilion? For Green activists, this was a first time goal; it was not just another election. They galvanised a national campaign and aimed it principally at Brighton Pavilion and getting their first MP. Six figure donations enabled them to recruit full-time communications and campaign managers and I estimated the cost of their poster campaign alone during Labour Party Conference in Brighton cost around £30k.
To break through to Westminster generated excitement and interest – from Green party members, the media and voters. There will never be another first time and this will be a weakness in their next general election campaign.
I am proud of the campaign we ran, proud of our achievement in defying the bookies to finish second, with just 500 less votes than in 2005 and proud to have had the backing of the trade union movement.
I sought to genuinely engage with the community throughout, running local campaigns about housing, saving the local fire station, post offices and getting better facilities for young people. Campaigns were about things that mattered to local people, not just asking for their vote. We always reminded people of Labour’s achievements, but although people acknowledged these, they wanted a stronger vision of where we were going.
We worked hard to generate more Labour activism and people’s generosity was truly humbling but we had the resources of one constituency party in a marginal seat and the national party did not take the Green threat seriously.
Looking to the future, there are a lot of lessons to be learned, but I think the most important one is that the leadership recognises local Labour party members understand what works and what doesn’t, on the ground. The local Labour voice needs to be reflected in our policies and we need a mechanism that allows feedback to be used constructively not condemned as disloyalty. Elections cannot be about the stats and grimly hanging onto clearly unpopular political positions and simply arguing that a vote for anyone else will let the Tories in – that’s not good enough and in Brighton anyway, it simply won’t work.
Nancy Platts was Labour's parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion.
12comments:
I'll never forget the greens driving their big (admittedly green-fuel) double decker bus through the already congested streets around the Balfour schools area just as the children from these four schools were leaving for the day... Chaos lol But I remember better how fab Nancy was as a campaigner and candidate and I'm proud to have supported her candidacy from the beginning. MC
I recall Compass (a supposedly Labour supporting faction) gave a platform to the Green candidate at their Rally at Labour Party conference when it was in Brighton just before the election. They'll be pleased their efforts to undermine the official Labour candidate paid off.
This is a good analysis of why Labour lost, but nothing more than that. "...the leadership recognises local Labour party members understand what works and what doesn’t" That may very well be true but fundamentally that is not a reason to vote Labour at all and just seeks to highlight how Labour as a party has completely abandoned its principles. Gone are the days of the Labour movement, this is the party of Tony Blair, big business, and the free market.
"Nancy Platts was Labour's parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion."
And failed to confront these issues herself at the time.
"proud to have had the backing of the trade union movement". -
I am a trade unionist in Brighton and I would like to make it explicity clear that trade union MEMBERS do NOT support Labour. Unfortunately (speaking for my own union - the GMB) it is National Policy to support Labour candidates by default - regardless of the personalities or their politics. Despite members unanimously voting at branch to NOT support Labour candidates we are overruled by the buearacrats at the top.
Why WOULD trade unionists support Labour?? They have neglected their roots, abolished Clause 4, and they had 13 years to abolish and change the draconian anti trade union laws. They attacked our pensions, introduced PFI, sucked up to big business left right and centre, and opened the door for the privatisation of the public services that is happening now. What did they ever do for us?? Why should my members hard earned union subs go to a party that has done nothing but neglect them and stab them in the back?
New Labour are responsible for the rise in racism and the rise of the new far right politics, because there is no political representation for working class people anymore.
Abolish this nonsense of Blue Labour or Purple Labour or whatever colour of the rainbow your PR team have decided on this week, and reengage with RED Labour, and your traditional working class roots and policies, and you may find you win back supporters. Carrying on trying to meet the Tories on a centre-right politics ground will ultimately lead to disaster. You are merging into each other seamlessly and the voters can see that.
Listen to your fighting grassroots representatives such as John McDonnell if you truly want to win back your votes.
What did the Greens do in power in ireland
cut cut cut
As an employee of Brighton and Hove City Council, I felt that Labour had become unprincipled, unethical, authoritarian, democratically unaccountable, hypercritical and had embraced and continued on where Thatcherite policies had left off. That is some of the reasons why I joined and voted for the Green Party, who are essentially a party that sticks to its principles, defends public services and is the healthy, progressive politics that this city and country so badly needs. I am looking forward to their administration bringing in new and refreshing ideas and one would hope on a gradualist basis, unlike the gung-ho approach of this Tory-led coalition.
I campaigned in the GE and the LE for the Greens. The Greens have the winning forumula; localism, liberalism and socialism. We hit the right media head on and are proud of what we stand for and do not hide. I have said in the past, if the Labour party was true to its beliefs, we wouldn't necessarily need the green party. LibDems and Labour have split the progressive vote, allowing the Tories in with their divisive policies, and now the Greens are coming with refreshing, practical and strategic fresh ideas. When the Labour Party was formed, you wanted real democracy, for every person to count and an equal society. I'm sure the sane working class would have opted to protect the environment as well, especially as they would suffer the most. Thus, if Labour was what it should be, the left would never have gathered and formed the Green Party. Labour is obssessed with centralist control instead of using its time in power to liberate councils. We're not, we truly believe in local democracy. If you look on the political axis graph, you'll see all major parties in the UK are on the right hand side. Only the Greens can be on the left but not centralist, we're localists. Labour is on the centre-left but the centre moved under the Tories effectively making Labour much more to the right than it was. Labour cannot claw back the votes and should expect to be in coalition at Westminster in the future parliaments. This country is becoming (even without PR - shame on Labour) a multi-party nation and Labour will no longer be able to command a represntation of the majority of areas again. Labour, locally, refused to work with the Greens to vote out the Tory budget. The 2 party acceptance of taking it in turns to hold power is patronising and damaging to the people. Labour votes constantly tell me its only loyalty thats keep them voting for you and they'll change soon. Hard-core Labour voters wanted Labour to work with the Greens but by failing to co-operate and abstaning at that critical budget vote, you proved you're not co-operative, even though the Co-op party is linked to Labour. The Greens have the strongest support for co-ops than any other party standing for election. If Labour locally had not treated the Greens so badly and co-operated for the sake of Brighton people, then you might not have lost as many seats to the Greens as you did. If Ed Miliband doesn't push for real localism and decentralisation, then Labour is likely to continue to slide while the Greens momentum upwards continues. We have the best of all the parties. We have business practicality that the Tories like to claim, liberty that the LibDems shout about and socialism that the Labour party finds it difficult to say in public. If the Greens continue with their beliefs, I'll fight for them until my dying day, and welcome more Tory, Libs and Labour previous voters as evidently happened in the local elections in Brighton last month.
The timing was good for the Greens but you are living in the past Nancy. It tells a tale when Tory councillors are more pleasant to speak to on a personal basis than Labour ones.
There is something deeply wrong with a political party that is so tribalist that "you are either with us or against us" is the mantra you work to. This comes out in the chamber, on the door step and with your relationship with councillor officers.
A deep hatred of Labour has settled over B&H as the party is authoritarian, centrist in both its politics and the way it allows certain male figures (often from the past) to bully others internally and its slavish attachment to its national leaders.
Good luck regaining your seats - ah again we see the problem - they are not your seats, you just think they are. They belong to the electorate. Labour needs to behave like it is a collection of humans connected with communities if it wants to be taken seriously.
'A deep hatred of Labour has settled over Brighton' election result; Green Party 33%; Labour Party 32%.
As I said in my post above (04:17) Labour supporters are doing out of loyalty and tribalism. I have stood outside any many Labour voters come upto me to comment on my green poster and have "said I'll vote for you eventually". I ask why not and the reply is often "I've always been Labour", followed by "..but I don't like Labour or what they've done or what they stand for anymore".
Personally, over your 13 years in power, I would have raised income taxes (dampening consumer and debt based demand) and carried out a steady repayment of debt to bring interest payments down freeing up long-term cash and reducing the reliance on the bond and financial markets. Locally, I would've handed power back to councils, make them truly accountable and powerful, along with smaller communities. A tax on large properties and private lands would dampen demand and improve the chances of the community to take these assets. The Greens demonstrated the largest cross-ward support, unlike Labour or the Tories. Labour pipped up a bit due to anti-Toery feeling. The Greens got in and will now garner increasing levels of support. Innovation is often the key in councils but Tories have an ego trip trying to cut costs and Labour hasn't innovated. Look at the solar panel scheme recently announced, why could not the Tories or Labour proposed this in the past? Why nto take waste food and create gas and fertisliser? Things that are obvious have been overlooked.
"Look at the solar panel scheme recently announced, why could not the Tories or Labour proposed this in the past?"
The solar panel feed-in tariff scheme was brought in by Labour.
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