Where’s the ‘wow factor’ Ed?

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

Speaking to Labour’s National Policy Forum in Wrexham today, Ed Miliband argued that the party has too easily in the past ignored the party, and the public:

“So we went from six people making decisions in a smoke-filled committee room in the 1980s to six people making the decisions from a sofa in Whitehall.

Old Labour forgot about the public.

New Labour forgot about the party.

And, by the time we left office, we had lost touch with both.”

On the whole Miliband’s speech sounds like a genuine and passionate call for change – albeit containing plenty of what, and not enough how. And yet in today’s Guardian, there are a number of early proposals derived – seemingly derived from the Refounding Labour consultation – that seem…not entirely earth shattering:

• Public petitions gathered by local parties should determine issues for debate at Labour’s policymaking forum. In a form of crowdsourcing, he suggests either the 10 petitions with most signatures, or any petition with a minimum threshold of signatures, should be guaranteed a debate.

• Non-party members, such as Greenpeace or other NGOs, would be entitled to speak at party conference as “registered consultees”. Miliband said: “In order to have a good conversation at party conference, you’ve got to expand the conversation.”

• Trade unions would be “required to open up” so that local parties can access any of 4 million affiliated union levy payers living in their area. Miliband proposes every local party should meet twice a year with its local union levypayers to end what he describes as a “totally detached” relationship.

• Local parties are to be given incentives to draw up a register of local supporters who back Labour’s goals but do not wish to become members.

• All parliamentary candidates and councillors are to be asked to sign a code of conduct committing themselves to be in regular touch with the public

No doubt some (if not all) of these proposals are worthwhile. Staying in regular contact with the public is key to winning elections. Gaining supporters as well as members is crucial to build a campaigning movement to win. Yet it’s disappointing to see Ed pre-empting the outcome of the consultation. And worse than that, these are best practice poposals, not genuine party reform proposals.

None of what is being put forward thus far – or even the abolition of shadow cabinet elections, for all of the Westminster bubble interest – has the “wow factor” necessary to convince party members that this is a serious attempt at root and branch party reform.

Back when the Refounding Labour consultation started, we were promised “nothing less than the refoundation of the Labour Party”. Submissions to Refounding Labour closed yesterday. There will no doubt have been many bold suggestions made. The challenge for Ed Miliband now is to take the bold decisions necessary that will bring about the genuine change that he spoke of last summer and echoed today.

Because if the final proposals don’t have the “wow factor”, he won’t convince the party that things will be different this time. And if he doesn’t enthuse the party, then we won’t even get out of the starting blocks come the next election. This chance won’t come again – Ed must take it now, and do this properly.