The Labour Party is currently in a balancing act. On one side, party leader Keir Starmer needs to appease those who still believe in socialist, Corbynite policy. This includes many of the party members and young people. On the other hand, he needs to re-inspire Labour’s lost voters: the northern heartlands, SNP supporters in Scotland, and swing voters who have been brushing off Labour as an option for years now. To me, Starmer will need to give the latter group far greater focus and commitment. It is in the Corbynites’ best interests to be pragmatic, move on, and get behind a centre-left, electable party.
To unify these sides, realistically have a chance of forming the next government, and to once again be an electable party of progressive liberalism, Labour will need to offer a vision of what a better Britain would look like with them in office. Therefore, the recently leaked report of a constitutional review, commissioned by the party and led by former PM Gordon Brown, could mark the end of 12 years of Tory government.
As reported in the Guardian, the constitutional review poses plans that would oversee a restructuring of Britain. It includes abolishing the House of Lords and replacing it with an upper house of regions and devolved nations, powers for local people to promote bills in Parliament via democratically elected bodies, and new powers for mayors. Such a radical plan would bring sweeping changes to the country and is exactly what many Labour supporters will be looking for.
The outcome of the next election comes down to a matter of choice and alternatives. With our unfortunate electoral system, it seems the only parties that will ever form a government are either Labour or Conservative. In recent years, Labour has mired in the position of voters viewing them as the ‘pick us because we’re not them’ option, and as we have seen, that is clearly not going to make Labour win.
The Tories have seemingly swung to being populist, as demonstrated through offering soundbites and simplistic solutions to difficult problems. Although maddening to some, this does seem to lead to votes. Given the emergency our country is in, Labour’s popularity would come with offering a remedy to the cost-of-living crisis, looming recession, industry strikes and a government split by in-fighting and perpetual leadership contests.
However, it is uncertain whether even the events of last week will result in an early election, and risk the Conservatives losing their 80-seat majority. So Labour is probably going to have to wait until 2025. The politics of our modern world are unpredictable and two years can lead to unimaginable changes. Just look at how different Britain was in 2016 compared to now. Cameron, Brexit, May, Corbyn, Johnson, illegal proroguing of Parliament and two elections have all occurred within just over a year of the typical five-year term of one sitting government. If the two years until the 2025 election sees only a third of what’s happened already, then we’re headed into very rocky terrain.
According to the leaked report, Brown’s constitutional review is being widely and regularly checked by and discussed with the shadow cabinet, and it is still in its early stages. Starmer said the plans would be a ‘fresh and tangible offer’ to voters and would be ‘the boldest project Labour has embarked on for a generation’ and every bit as bold and radical as the programme of devolution that Labour delivered in the 1990s and 2000s. It is apparently set to be fully announced later this year.
When it is fully announced, Labour will need two approaches to maintain public support. Firstly, it must be announced with far-reaching PR and with the rhetoric and fully funded policy of a government-in-waiting. Secondly, between its announcement and the next election, it must be built upon and regularly updated, thereby gaining and retaining as many of the voters Labour lost in 2019. With this report seemingly being given serious attention and development, and the overall success of the recent Labour conference, Labour will see themselves as being in an ideal position. The mini-budget announcement, which happened during the party’s conference, saw Labour jump ahead in the polls further than they have in years.
I wait with bated breath to see how Labour will navigate the next two years and what position they’ll be in come polling day. In the 2017 election, people did get behind Corbyn’s manifesto. Labour gained seats under his agenda. But it was against May’s ‘Strong and Stable’ campaign, and the precursor to its worst defeat in years in 2019.
Labour has a clear strategy of proposing bold, radical change in this constitutional review, that would change Britain’s social and political landscape. One which, after years of the Left in Britain being so divided, could unify lost Labour voters, Corbynites, and Scottish voters. It’s a big ask for Labour. They’ve got a mammoth task ahead of them, at the centre of which should be Brown’s review. For, as we have seen, the Conservatives could still turn their current position into another electoral victory through a savvy, populist campaign.
Are we headed to yet more of this, or a changed Britain? We shall see.
Image credit: Scott Graham via Unsplash