Labour must be exceptional

By Matt Wallace

“There goes the south for a generation.”

Those were the words of Lyndon Johnson upon the signing of the Civil Rights Act, delivering justice to millions in America. The result, as predicted, was the near wipeout of the Democratic Party below the Mason-Dixon line.

But Johnson was on the right side of history.

This is the potential problem facing Labour and the Liberal Democrats as they grasp with the peculiarities of coalition. They can deliver monumental change – and they will be punished for it.

By any measurement, David Cameron has to become Prime Minister. Through any normal prism, Cameron has more votes, more seats, more of a mandate.

Any move by Labour to usurp this would be seen by the press and the electorate as clinging onto power, unelected, rejected. They would not be far wrong. Any deal done by Labour and the Liberal Democrats would install either a PM – Gordon Brown – who has lost an election, or an unnamed Labour MP who they did not vote for. There is no easy way out here.

And the result would be predictable – a Tory majority when the next election is called.

But would this be a price worth paying?

In any normal parliament, no. With any normal programme, again no.

So Labour must be exceptional. They must be on the right side of history, though they will be punished for it.

But this is also a rare opportunity for fairness – for delivering electoral reform, banishing First Past The Post to the 19th century where it belongs, reforming the system – though that might lead to a later electoral defeat.

The activists will help rebuild and renew the party – and Labour will have contributed in no small part the change that we so desperately need.

But if Labour have no stomach for an exceptional programme, the Prime Minister can only be David Cameron. If Labour wants to remain in their strongholds, they must go into opposition, choose a new leader and a new direction, and fight anew.

That is the choice facing the party: to choose something exceptional – and seize the chance for reform now – or to choose immediate opposition.