Opposing to win

By Emma Burnell / @scarletstand

“Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent’s fate.” Sun Tzu – The art of war

I am frequently accused by some in the party of being comfortable in opposition. It’s a great insult. It works well on so many levels. It questions my commitment to my ultimate goal of a Labour government. It questions my strategic thinking. It says baldly that I am just playing at politics, that I am unserious and my opinions unworthy of consideration. The worthiness of my opinions is not for me to judge. But let me tell you here and now: I hate being in opposition. I hate the powerlessness, the desperate desire to make a difference and the tragic inability to do so; the knowledge of a potential alternative narrative and the inability to bear it out and prove its worth. I don’t intend to do or support anything that would keep the Labour Party in opposition a second longer than is demanded by the electoral cycle.

But unlike my fierce and fiery critics, I do understand opposition. I have taken the time to give thought to its nature and its subtleties, I understand that to change a power struggle one must first learn the nature of the struggle and the character of both sides. I realise that there are ways to start a narrative that are more subtle and take longer, but that have a lasting effect. I realise that when the spotlight is not on you, what’s important is not trying to grab crazily at fleeting minutes of fame at any cost. It’s what you do in the semi-darkness that will define you.

Leading a party of opposition is not like leading a party of government. You don’t get to set the agenda. When you’re a single party in opposition to a coalition, sometimes you don’t even get to look like the official opposition. The government are tearing lumps out of each other and getting caught up in process stories, that’s sadly what happens to governments. Trying to be part of that just to own a few more news cycles will feel good to those who haven’t thought about the art of opposition. It will feel good because it will feel like government. But it is not government.

Giving the Tories policy commitments for what a Labour government of 2014/15 would do now would be to hand the Tories not just a strategy victory, but our battle plans, credibility and backbone tied up in a neat little ribbon. Never mind the fact that it is right to re-examine every part of Labour’s platform and policies with the Party, with external experts and with the public as a whole. It’s just really dumb policy. It’s movement for the sake of moving. Not to be mistaken for direction.

Many of those who think I am happy in opposition also counsel that we should go after the Tory vote. I ever so slightly disagree. I think we can, should and must go after those who have – at some point – voted Tory.

The difference is that these aren’t the tribal Tories who have voted Tory for a decade, but those who were unconvinced by our offer last time and willing to give David Cameron a try. When I asked, pollster Deborah Mattinson said that Labour and the Tories each have about 9% of voters who believe those parties “share their values”, but that around 20% of voters are prepared to change their mind about who they are voting for.

Now I’m no Karl Rove. I don’t believe Labour should ever adopt a 50% + 1 strategy. But doesn’t it make sense to find ways to attract the 20% whose mind is changeable? Not the 9% who will always vote against us?

I want Labour to oppose cleverly and with skill. I want to oppose with a long-term strategy that will draw voters in, not showily attract their attention years out of an election with no ability to follow up (and until you can legislate, all you can do is talk – some of our hard men might want to remember that next time they implore Ed to “DO” something) thus continuing a cycle of disappointment.

We need to be a canny opposition. We need to be on the side of those who are opposing what is happening to our country and ready to champion more and more people as they feel the squeeze. It will take time. It will be a long hard slog. But Ed has been showing he can hold his nerve.

Ed is right to concentrate on the war, not the skirmishes. Because we want to win. And we want to win for a reason. Win with a mandate. Win for good.

*This article was originally published under Mark Ferguson’s name – it is, of course, written by the excellent Emma Burnell. Apologies for any confusion caused*