Miliband: why not a system of registered voters and primaries?

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

UPDATE: The full version of David Miliband’s article is now available to read here.

UPDATE: Surprise, surprise, it’s the Spectator’s Coffee House blog that calls the first leadership play, saying: “it’s difficult to see this as anything but another foray into the leadership game – about a year on from his last attempt to set out a “vision” for the Labour party.” (See my final paragraph).

In an article for this week’s Tribune magazine, David Miliband has urged Labour to adopt open primaries, saying:

“the traditional political structures of mainstream political parties are dying and our biggest concern is the gap between our membership and our potential voter base. We need to expand our reach by building social alliances and increasing opportunity for engagement and interaction with our party.”

Miliband concludes that open primaries, such as the one held by the Tories in Totnes this week, are the best way to achieve this:

“We say we want to listen to our voters, why not a system of registered voters as in the US to create the basis for primaries?”

The article echoes and builds on Miliband’s support of opening up the Labour party, first outlined last month in the John Smith memorial lecture.

But on Radio 4 this morning, chair of Compass Neal Lawson said primaries would further “water down” the role of party members and be the “death knell of the party”:

“The revival of the Labour Party and the revival of British democracy will come from political parties that believe and have a vision of the good society and compete over that in fair and open democratic elections. That’s what we want to see.”

Others, including Will Straw, have long argued that open primaries are the Change We Need to revitalise the Labour party.

The Open Primary system in the US cannot be explained away as a monolith. Yes, voters are registered either as Democrat, Republican or Independent, but not all party primaries are “open”. Indeed, in most, only those registered as either Democrat or Republican can vote in the primaries and caucuses of their respective parties. So there is more thinking to be done on this.

But I hope this will not be the opening bar of another chorus of “Miliband in new leadersgip bid”. Miliband is tackling the same questions we are all thinking about – about the future of the party and how to address dwindling membership and reduced interest in politics within contemporary culture. It’s an important debate, and one that all cabinet ministers and grassroots members should take up with equal seriousness.