The elections in May marked the start of a long recovery for Labour across the country, but especially in the South West. There can be no hiding that the General Election results were very disappointing for Labour in the region. As a party we lost some very good MPs – Linda Gilroy in Plymouth, Jim Knight in Dorset South and Parmjit Dhanda in Gloucester to name but a few. There can be no doubting that 2010 was a very tough year for Labour in the West Country.
It may sound self-evident but 2011 is not 2010 and the times, they are a changing, to quote a song lyric.
The elections in May marked the first real electoral test of the Coalition and it produced mixed results. I predicted in my new year predictions for PRSD that both Labour and the Tories would do well in the elections – and both parties did. Labour won at the expense of the Tories and the Tories won, largely at the expense of the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats lost at their own expense.
It wasn’t just about electing councillors though, there was also the AV referendum. AV was, frankly, a Westminster village-orchestrated distraction from the real issues affecting ordinary people.
Those who support electoral reform, and I count myself in this camp, were asked to back a system accurately described by Nick Clegg as a “miserable little compromise” with few pluses and many negatives. AV had few friends and the British public, and the South West in particular, rightly kicked it out for being the disappointment it clearly was. The Lib Dems had misplayed their trump card and with it, the chances for proper electoral reform was lost for a generation. That further kicked Lib Dem support in the region.
The general consensus among the political chattering classes, for which you can read Twittering classes these days, is that the Tories are doing well, the Lib Dems are doing terribly (and they are) and Labour is doing ‘alright’ somewhere in the middle. That’s probably a fair assessment of where we are as a party right now – doing alright. Not yet motoring, but not sinking either.
The problem is that doing alright won’t win us the next General Election, nor will doing alright kick out the Tories who are doing so much damage to the South West economy, penalising the poorest and advantaging the richest.
I was asked to write about Labour’s fortunes but its worth spending a moment looking at what would happen to the Lib Dems if there was an election tomorrow: simply they’d be wiped out. The Tories would turn the West Country blue with only urban areas flying the red flag in proud defiance. If the Lib Dems want to avoid this they need to do something about it and fast, as their current ‘be in opposition in power’ strategy is fooling no one. But I’m probably not best placed to comment on being a Lib Dem, so back to Labour…
So, what can be done? Well, the first thing I ask readers is not to drink the Tory cool aid too much that says that Labour is floundering under Ed Miliband and destined for successive electoral defeats.
The local elections in May were good for Labour. By any measure we did well picking up 400 councillors nationwide including making five gains in Plymouth, one in Torquay and one in West Devon. Labour has also won two successive by-elections in Camborne recently. That’s a party making a steady come back not one being deserted by the electorate. Let’s remember Labour’s eight points clear in the polls too.
It may sound self-evident but 2011 is not 2010 and the times, they are a changing, to quote a song lyric.
The elections in May marked the first real electoral test of the Coalition and it produced mixed results. I predicted in my new year predictions for PRSD that both Labour and the Tories would do well in the elections – and both parties did. Labour won at the expense of the Tories and the Tories won, largely at the expense of the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats lost at their own expense.
It wasn’t just about electing councillors though, there was also the AV referendum. AV was, frankly, a Westminster village-orchestrated distraction from the real issues affecting ordinary people.
Those who support electoral reform, and I count myself in this camp, were asked to back a system accurately described by Nick Clegg as a “miserable little compromise” with few pluses and many negatives. AV had few friends and the British public, and the South West in particular, rightly kicked it out for being the disappointment it clearly was. The Lib Dems had misplayed their trump card and with it, the chances for proper electoral reform was lost for a generation. That further kicked Lib Dem support in the region.
The general consensus among the political chattering classes, for which you can read Twittering classes these days, is that the Tories are doing well, the Lib Dems are doing terribly (and they are) and Labour is doing ‘alright’ somewhere in the middle. That’s probably a fair assessment of where we are as a party right now – doing alright. Not yet motoring, but not sinking either.
The problem is that doing alright won’t win us the next General Election, nor will doing alright kick out the Tories who are doing so much damage to the South West economy, penalising the poorest and advantaging the richest.
I was asked to write about Labour’s fortunes but its worth spending a moment looking at what would happen to the Lib Dems if there was an election tomorrow: simply they’d be wiped out. The Tories would turn the West Country blue with only urban areas flying the red flag in proud defiance. If the Lib Dems want to avoid this they need to do something about it and fast, as their current ‘be in opposition in power’ strategy is fooling no one. But I’m probably not best placed to comment on being a Lib Dem, so back to Labour…
So, what can be done? Well, the first thing I ask readers is not to drink the Tory cool aid too much that says that Labour is floundering under Ed Miliband and destined for successive electoral defeats.
The local elections in May were good for Labour. By any measure we did well picking up 400 councillors nationwide including making five gains in Plymouth, one in Torquay and one in West Devon. Labour has also won two successive by-elections in Camborne recently. That’s a party making a steady come back not one being deserted by the electorate. Let’s remember Labour’s eight points clear in the polls too.
Labour needs not only to campaign more to win more votes – it also need to change. We need to learn the lessons of why we lost – how the party and leadership became disconnected from the people – how our policies on housing and immigration didn’t match the experience of voters and how the party looked tired when compared to Cameron’s glitzy PR machine. In short, we needed after May 2010 and still do need to come to terms with why we lost if we are not to repeat that in the future. If Labour was a company, this would be called R&D investment and it would be time well spent.
Labour still has a long way to go to be a general party of opposition across the West Country, but let’s be honest about it, there are dozens of seats across the south where Labour is simply not in contention (and where the Lib Dems need to up their game). Whether it is through demographic, historical or social issues Labour is unlikely to win in Torridge and West Devon, doesn’t stand much of a chance in East Devon and battles valiantly but is unlikely to win SW Devon anytime soon.
That said, where Labour is historically strong, in places like Exeter, Plymouth and Bristol the fight back is going well. Steady progress is being made by the local parties there to win more votes. The wipeout of the Lib Dem vote in Plymouth and the defeat of even one of the ruling Tory cabinet members testify to the potency of Labour’s message, the appeal of our candidates and the fact that the Tory and Lib Dem cuts are hurting, but they’re not working.
In May next year Labour may win control of Plymouth City Council. It’s a steep hill to climb first but Cllr Tudor Evans, Labour’s leader in Plymouth, is up for the challenge and him and his team are rising to it each and every week through increased campaigning on local issues, community engagement and increased fundraising. to get a flavour of the activity in the city.
The Coalition is also doing themselves no favours. The U-turns are coming thick and fast casting a general doubt about the coherence of their agenda or the solidity of their determination on policy.
Defence cuts while we are at war on two fronts, for instance, seem utterly bizarre and in a region where the military is intrinsic to our lives this is deeply concerning. So too are cuts to our schools, hospitals, police, fire service, ambulances, social services, roads, and the list goes on.
The cuts are hurting but the latest figures for April show that the Government borrowed more money now than it did a year ago when Labour handled the economy. Now, I can hear the Tory stalwarts saying that they’re cutting waste and all these perfectly crafted soundbites – the problem is in areas like our’s the pain is evident but the much heralded and promised improvements are not.
This is the context in which Labour must seize the initiative and win more votes. The victories in Dartmouth and West Devon show that even in areas many Labour activists never think we could win, we have. And in a stroke making the life of Labour strategists that much harder in working out where to resource – the answer should be everywhere – but money and activists don’t grow on trees so the party has to focus and select key targets – and let’s be clear Plymouth should be one of them.
Labour also must not forget its role in being a voice for those hit by the cuts.
Whether you’re resident in a Labour heartland or the safest Tory seat in the county, you need to know and actually be able to see that Labour is championing those hardworking families in what Ed Miliband calls the ‘squeezed middle’. If you’re reading this post, you’re probably in that squeezed middle. Your bills are going up, prices are rising, job security is dropping and the future is more and more uncertain. That’s not a future I want for me, my family or your family.
Does this mean that the next election is already won? No, absolutely not. Let’s remember that the 2010 General Election defeat was one of Labour’s worst ever election results. It took the Tories 13 years to come back after defeat in 1997, and Labour took 18 long years after defeat in 1979. Let’s not count our chickens just yet, there’s a lot more work to do but there’s already positive signs ahead.
Does this mean that the next election is already won? No, absolutely not. Let’s remember that the 2010 General Election defeat was one of Labour’s worst ever election results. It took the Tories 13 years to come back after defeat in 1997, and Labour took 18 long years after defeat in 1979. Let’s not count our chickens just yet, there’s a lot more work to do but there’s already positive signs ahead.
This article was first published on the
People's Republic of South Devon website
Luke Pollard was Labour’s candidate in South West Devon at the last general election. He lives in Plymouth and works in the travel industry. Visit his website at
3comments: