Love in the Labour Party

I’m not the only Labour activist who is going to be spending Valentine’s Day knocking on doors. I’m also pretty sure that I’m not the only Labour activist who will be joined knocking on those doors by their partner.

In our local parties I’m sure we can all think of a number of couples who are politically active together. Some may worry that this indicates that the political classes are becoming increasingly narrow. But it also shows some of our party’s strengths; we are a party who is formed, and functions around the relationships between people.

Over the past five years that I’ve been a member, I have increasingly been fascinated by members, councillors and MPs that are in relationships with each other. I wondered whether this was a modern day phenomenon, or whether there has always been love throughout the Labour Party.

I recently finished a research project in which I looked to the fledgling days of the Labour Party, in the 1920s and 30s, and researched how many couples met, fell in love and married within the party. And it was not just Beatrice and Sidney Webb, I found that around a third of female candidates in local elections were married to another male candidate or activist.

Particularly for women, being married to a man involved in the Labour Party allowed them to engage in political activism more freely. Women were four times more likely than men to be married to another Labour Party member. Women needed a husband who was generally more progressive in their views, and willing to help with childcare and housework. They needed to be accepting of the lifestyle that their wives had to lead – constantly out of the house attending meetings, summer schools or out campaigning.

It was also the shared vision of the future that united many of these couples. They saw their lives working towards the same aspirations and goals of a socialist future. Particularly in the formation of local CLPs, it was often small groups of married couples that came together to found them. Bermondsey CLP, for example, was formed by a group of socialist doctors and their wives. These ‘founding families’ supported each other as a network, helping to look after each other’s children when at meetings and out campaigning, as well as socialising and holidaying together.

Obviously women are involved in politics today without the help that a politically engaged husband can provide, and this is clearly an improvement. But the fact that so many couples still come together in the party tells us a lot about who we are. People find a group of people who share a similar set of values and perspective on the world.

The Labour Party isn’t just about the campaigns we run and the policies we make, it’s also about the people that we are and the relationships that we form. In a time when people see politics done by desiccated calculating machines, it’s important for us to demonstrate that the Labour Party isn’t just about meetings in dusty church halls. We are a community that values friendship, love and comradeship.

So as your significant other this weekend asks you to go and see if Mrs Davis at number 31 is still voting Labour, don’t worry that you’re not at some fancy French restaurant. The Labour Party has always been formed and sustained by people who love not just the party, but each other.