How Labour can win the Election
There is a lot of debate about what is best for the Labour Party. Some say it’s all about winning elections and nothing matters if you are not in power, others that saying and doing the right thing is primary and electoral success a longer term aim.
Both are wrong, and right. Like all discussions on most subjects there is an amount of truth that the sensible majority understand and accept. It’s not OK to win an election at any cost and it’s not OK to lose when real and important things are at stake. So how do we square the circle?
In the red corner we have the membership and in the blue the PLP. Simplistic, there are factions at both ends but this helps to characterise the generality. At one end are the MP’s, 230 members of the PLP, 172 members of which voted they had no confidence in the leader. The membership consists of about half a million; the significant majority are expected to vote for Mr Corbyn in the current leadership election.
Some say left and right, there are many other expressions both sides use that are a lot less flattering, but perhaps what we can all agree is that one has a small number of powerful people and the other a lot of people whose only real power lies in their numbers.
People want to be powerful, most are not. Power is seductive and people tend to want to keep it when they have it. They do not want any sort of reselection process to take it away. They do not want less powerful people telling them how to vote. There are a few exceptions but power tends to corrupt and in politics, because of its very nature, the battle to stay on the moral high ground is constant.
In early Greek democracy citizens were randomly selected to take part in the act of governance, much like the way we currently elect members of a Jury. That would be difficult in modern times but it is worth considering that democracy, as first envisaged, was term limited. We have that for governments in the UK but to fully embrace democracy don’t we need it at all possible levels?
None of this would be very controversial to a person without an agenda, but most of us have one. When the leader is a supported by the majority that is democracy, when the leader is chosen and supported by the elite that is something else.
There are genuine nice people on both sides but they tend not to win. If it were a popularity contest, those for who the end justifies the means, would find a way of controlling the media.
Polling isn’t a guarantee of election success, further it is not an aid to a true leader. I need to know where my people are going so that I can lead them.
In the final analysis for Labour to win the next election the best opportunity is for the large membership to continue to grow and the Party organisation to flatten, become more democratic and know that they answer to the member.
So how do we move forward? The lowest level of organisation in the Party, and based on the above the most important, is the Constituency Labour Party (CLP). I think two things need to happen to invigorate the CLP; firstly the delegation of power as far as is possible and second the acceptance of agreed objectives. This new power and responsibility needs debate and agreement but here are a few ideas:
1) The first thing is increase the membership. This should be a clear and stated objective of every CLP. There should be national recognition for the biggest percentage monthly increase.
2) Each CLP must be empowered. The NEC should not have the power to suspend any CLP without a clear process in place to investigate any allegations promptly. Nobody can tell them that they are not permitted to hold meetings or who is permitted to attend.
3) Each CLP can democratically select, reselect and deselect as it sees fit. Whilst I accept this has its challenges and a reasonable system needs to be put in place as a rule of thumb the challenge to a leader rules we have at the moment can be applied to anyone by the majority of the members.
4) All candidates put forward for national elections are members of the PLP whether they are elected or not. For any large organisation a hierarchy is necessary however that structure needs to be accountable to the membership and this proposal helps to achieve this.
5) Increase the vote. You may have a large majority or be a poor third place. Winning every seat is an unrealistic objective but increasing the number and or share of the vote can be a common goal. Better communication between CLP’s will also help share best practice.
6) What percentage of members attend their CLP meetings on a regular basis? I assume that an initial target of over 50% would be a vast improvement? How do you do this? You start by having it as a stated objective. We need to encourage the membership to manage themselves. Better meetings can and should be an objective.
7) Frequency and type of meeting. Start with weekly, get together and meet to discuss the agreed objectives of the CLP, we have something significant in common. We need a structure but it should act as a framework and the only rules are to address civil and appropriate treatment of all. Social activity should be encouraged from entering a team in a pub quiz to sports and everything in between.
8) Create a cheat sheet. List the top ten issues that people care about and create a set of short answers. Help to craft a clear message
9) Opt in Mail/Phone. If you join the Labour party how do you communicate with other members of your CLP? At the moment the secretary of the CLP can communicate with all members but members cannot.
The point is to start the conversation about how do we get elected. When we say that we are the party of the people we are saying the vast majority, we need to let them know that we have things in common and that we will not betray any trust they put in us.
