Elitism – lessons not learned Part Three

I have written another piece elsewhere in Brian’s Blog about the appalling Labour result in the Sleaford and North Hykeham by-election.

Caroline Johnson (Conservative) 53.5%

Victoria Ayling (Ukip) 13.5%

Ross Pepper (Liberal Democrat) 11%

Jim Clarke (Labour) 10.2%

Blairites used to worry that Ed Miliband was pursuing a 35 per cent strategy (the Labour vote in 2010 topped up with disgruntled Liberal Democrats). It is clear that May is seeking the 52% per cent who voted leave and it is clear May is winning by a mile. For a party in government to obtain a 54% vote in a by-election is no mean feat.

Farron is wooing the 48 per cent who voted remain. It is uphill for the Lib-Dems but you can see tangible progress.

Where then is Labour? After a pathetic role during the referendum build up, Labour is now like a petulant child asking ‘Are we there yet?’ Its role is reduced to stating it will not oppose Brexit but will make sure the terms are right. Really? How is it going to do that then? Its leader and shadow cabinet members have stated over and over they will not block or delay Brexit.

Apart from the obvious issues of factions and in-fighting, Labour is simply out of touch. Its spokespeople still talk as if they know best and the electorate will get it right eventually once Labour explains slowly and clearly for those who voted leave, as they are obviously a bit slow on the uptake. They appear patronising to the extreme. What Labour wants is to talk about their plans to fix the British economy and negotiate a better Brexit than the Conservatives can. That has the advantage of not putting further pressure on the splits in the parliamentary Labour party and the divide in the party's electoral coalition. The real risk, however, is what they've ended up with is a zero per cent strategy. No strategy at all. No one knows what they stand for and what they want to do.

Labour MPs have said they fear the party is pursuing a zero per cent strategy because of the lack of clarity on Brexit. MPs said they believed the party was alienating both sides of the referendum debate by defending freedom of movement but promising to push through with leaving the EU. The Croydon North MP, Steve Reed, said: ‘Labour risks becoming the party of the zero per cent if we manage to upset both remainers and leavers by equivocating our position. There’s an urgent need for Labour to address some very fundamental questions now about what our party is for and who we represent, but unless we find answers quickly, it will threaten our future success.’ Toby Perkins, the Labour MP for Chesterfield, who campaigned in Sleaford, said the party had failed to make an impact in the constituency despite threats to Grantham’s A&E and maternity services. Another Labour MP said: ‘Not even any moderate in the party has got a clear idea of what they want to say to working-class voters.’

In stark contrast, some of them really do not get it. Vernon Coaker, the former shadow cabinet minister and the MP for Gedling, who helped run Labour’s campaign in Sleaford and North Hykeham, said the party’s message on the EU was not getting through to voters yet. ‘Jim Clarke (Labour’s candidate in the seat) and his team ran a strong campaign that they should be proud of. The reality is that the Labour vote was squeezed by Brexit. In some ways, this felt like a bit of a referendum re-run. Labour’s focus on securing the best plan for Britain outside the EU, while still addressing people’s concerns about the future, is not yet cutting through. This will take more time and effort from us all at all levels of the party.’ And here we now have it. It is everyone else’s fault and they all need to improve. It is nothing to do with Labour being elitist and out of touch. Yeah, right Vernon. That’s the problem. You just need to get your message through. Even thought that it's no longer relevant and you are about fifty years behind the times? You know how elitist you sound?

If Labour does not listen it is doomed. Times have changed. The Labour Party has not. It may be too late.

#Opinion #All