Put the ball in the net

By Simon Buckley

The dust is settling on last Thursday’s local elections, and there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth from the Labour tribe, as it continues its wandering through the wilderness, trying to find the true way to re-election. Ed Miliband says that Labour still needs to learn lessons, and has a long way to go to win back the trust of its voters. Well, in the words of the famous Liverpool manager, Bob Paisley, “If you’re in the penalty area, and don’t know what to do with the ball, put it in the net and we’ll discuss the options later.”

Each and every day the Tory party, like Pacman, is ruthlessly eating everything up, and soon there will be nothing left. Meanwhile, Ed Miliband is hosting a national debating society about whether they’re New Labour, Blue Labour or just plain old Labour. If he doesn’t make his mind up soon, it won’t matter what they are. Cameron will have gobbled everything up, and he certainly won’t be offering the option to play again.

I’ve just been involved in an inspiring campaign in Trafford, the supposed northern jewel for the Conservatives. We were challenging the sitting mayor in Broadheath, an area to the south of the borough, and it was supposedly a no-hope situation when we began. In just 3 months, however, we managed to add nearly a 1000 Labour votes, an increase of 110%, and reduced the Tory majority from over 800 to just 122 votes. If it hadn’t rained from 5pm on election day, we might well have nicked it.

The campaign we ran, I suspect, would perhaps, have been familiar to Labour activists from 50 years ago. Of course we had Twitter, a website and Facebook pages, but the main reason we achieved such a good turnout was because we went back to basics. We cared enough to knock on every door in the ward, listened to people’s issues, and then took action to solve them. I’m not telling you this to boast, I’m telling you because it illustrates the point made so eloquently by Mr. Paisley. If a streetlight needs fixing, get it fixed, and we’ll talk about the policy later.

The Labour cognoscenti seem unable to decide what they believe in enough to form a policy, which can then be explained to the electorate. No wonder, therefore, people aren’t voting Labour. The daft thing is, I think people would love to support Labour again. And the answers, that the leadership seem so unable to find, are right there in front of them. Reconnect with people locally, listen to what needs doing, and then get on with it. People’s needs haven’t changed over the past 50 years, or longer for that matter. They still want to be healthy, they still want to earn a living and they still want to live in a safe, clean community. It doesn’t need a zillion focus groups, or endless theorising to work this out. We already know this stuff.

The Big Society, Cameron’s biggest idea, is actually Labour’s biggest asset. One of the wonderful things about the Labour movement is that it believes in helping those less fortunate. Charity, volunteering and sharing are at the core of who Labour voters are. They care. Inspiring people power can be the force that drives Labour back into Government. We showed, in Broadheath, that if you make the effort to get the simple stuff right, people are more than ready to take action. We had more than 40 volunteers working for the campaign on polling day.

So, Ed, never mind wondering if it’s best to be New Labour, Blue Labour (which to me merely conjures up the image of socialist Smurfs) or polka dot Labour. Your people are ready and waiting. Get them inspired by starting locally, with the basics. Just put the ball in the net. Please.