The importance of little things that mean a lot

This morning there are reports that David Axelrod – currently on day two of his whistlestop UK visit – is planning to revamp Ed Miliband’s TV appearances. The Times reports Axelrod:

“will try to improve the party’s communications and presentation but will also look at Mr Miliband’s performance in front of the cameras.”

Ed Miliband’s desire to improve his broadcast output and performances is no secret – indeed, he recently advertised for someone to take charge of them. But this talk of TV performances made me think about the Labour leaders who have really excelled on TV. Blair, certainly was a superb TV performer. Another was Harold Wilson. So obsessed was Wilson with the impact of TV, he once asked for Steptoe and Son to be resheduled, incase it stopped Labour voters from getting to the ballot box.

The Labour Party doesn’t talk much about Harold Wilson. And to an extent that’s not surprising. Since Wilson we’ve had three Labour Prime Ministers and six Labour leaders. It’s almost 40 years since he left office. And yet there are obviously many things we can learn from a Labour leader who led the party for 13 years and won 4 elections. But it’s not his mastery of television we can learn from (looking in the right direction and being less wooden than a mahogany desk were the bar to be crossed back then) – but something far simpler.

Wilson’s aides Bernard Donoghue and Joe Haines used to keep a list.

Not, like some kind of political Santa, a list of who were “naughty or nice” (though any leader and his team need that list too), but a simple list, printed on cars and kept in Wilson’s pocket, to be pulled out and considered at moments of pressure, or when Wilson needed to remind himself of what he had done or could do.

Little things that mean a lot.

That’s what was on the card. A list of “little things that mean a lot”. It might have been a way to reduce the price of a pint of milk. Free travel for the elderly. Making May Day as a bank holiday. Telling taxpayers where their money goes (something that we’re still waiting for).A change here and a switch there. Things that wouldn’t cost a great deal or necessitate a political earthquake, but which would make a difference for, as well call them now “hardworking people”. When Wilson wondered what could or should be done, or wanted to explain what he’s done to make people’s lives easier, he could go back to that list.

Little things that mean a lot.

Of course, Ed Miliband needs to think about the big structural changes in our society. He’s right to be concerned about inequality, the lack of houses and jobs for young people and the cost and insecurity of our nation’s energy. These are all issues that will have a profound impact on the decades that follow. But an important part of campaigning is also being able to explain, as simply as possible, what you’re doing for people that will improve their lives each day.

Little things that mean a lot.

Sometimes, it has felt like Miliband – an undeniably intelligent man – hasn’t quite articulated how the big changes he’s making have a tangible impact on the lives of the people we need to vote for us in 2015. When he has – the energy price freeze being one of the best examples – Labour’s position has strengthened. Even something as small as the price of a pasty can matter a little, if it shows you’re more in touch than the rest. But if Miliband were asked to draw up a list of little things government could do that would mean a lot, does he have the list to hand?

At a time of financial constraint – it may be that the little things that matter are just as essential as the transformational changes that shift society.