The writer was general secretary of the Labour party from 2011 to 2018 and now sits in the House of Lords on the Labour benches
Clause One of the Labour party rule book states that the party’s purpose is to “promote the election of Labour party representatives at all levels of the democratic process”. It does not state that its function is to be a radical protest party. The fight is now on for Labour’s soul and the future. The question is which of these two paths do today’s Labour members, about to pick the our next leader and deputy leader, want to choose?
Are we tired of losing? Having overseen two leadership contests as general secretary of the party, I hope that members make the choice to forge a path back to power. My worry is that Corbynism will not end with Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. We need a leader who appeals to the country and not just to the party membership — the election of a continuity candidate would have devastating consequences for our prospects.
Nobody should underestimate just how big a leap it would be from the position we are now in to a realistic chance of power. Four consecutive general election losses — and in the last, in December, Labour took significant steps backwards — do not fill me with hope that we have learnt many lessons.
Labour made many mistakes in the 2019 general election — mistakes avoided in the 2017 campaign. The first of these was to make it a rerun of the previous battle. This was to fundamentally misunderstand why, against all predictions, Labour came close to victory in 2017. Then, we had a professionally-run campaign with strategic goals, a cutting edge social media campaign and a freshness that appealed to a broad coalition, including many hard-to-reach voters. We were also able to take advantage of the dismal performance of all the other parties.
This time, with many long-serving and experienced members of staff no longer employed at the party’s headquarters, targeting of resources was not based on strategy but on a fanciful belief that Labour was going to win a majority. Mr Corbyn’s team served up a manifesto that voters saw as lacking in credibility: the leadership seemed happy to add additional uncosted promises along the way rather than double down on a core pledge. What did Labour offer? Everything to everyone and that was the problem.
Corbynism has been an abject failure. We need a strong leader to reignite the party and connect with voters.
The current leader will in April return to the backbenches where he spent most of the last four decades. Will the political doctrine follow him or can a new standard bearer keep the hard left flame alive? Rebecca Long Bailey has been given that task, and displays enduring loyalty to the project, giving Mr Corbyn “10 out of 10 for his leadership.” If elected, she would kill any chance of Labour improving its electoral prospects.
It is early stages but we can discern the possibility that the party is capable of making the decision to reject this path. We need to select a leader who can unify the party, hold this government to account and build a policy platform that is both transformative and achievable.
The parliamentary party has shifted slightly to the left since the election, it is true. In part this is due to the National Executive Committee, the party’s ruling body, being completely controlled by the hard left. It was able to parachute candidates into seats (ironically something they had complained about for years). And there has been an influx of new members, many of whom are on the left.
But Keir Starmer is already attracting the bulk of support from MPs, has the backing of Unison, the largest trade union, and has appointed a campaign team drawn from both left and right of the party, bringing together Morgan McSweeney and Simon Fletcher, key figures from the Liz Kendall and Jeremy Corbyn leadership campaigns respectively.
Both Lisa Nandy and Jess Phillips are likely to gain the necessary support to have their names on the ballot paper. They too are capable of driving the transition Labour needs.
Many commentators have already concluded that Labour cannot win the next election. This is not true. British politics is volatile and could become even more so if the fallout from Brexit makes life difficult for the government. A renewed Labour party, with a strong leader, could win the 123 seats needed to secure a majority in the next parliament.
These questions will be settled on April 4. We will have our answer: are Labour members ready to take the steps needed to honour the promise of Clause One and move back to bidding for power or are they happy to remain just a party of protest?
