“Consistency, credibility and conviction” – Douglas Alexander’s State of the Race memo

Here’s Douglas Alexander’s latest state of the race memo  – which LabourList readers can read exclusively before anyone else. We’ll be posting these each week to give you a unique insight through the final weeks of the campaign.

Dear Friend,

What does a winning campaign look like?

Regardless of the party, I think a winning campaign can usually be summed up in three words, consistency, credibility and conviction.

Consistency

Labour’s message at this election is that when working people succeed, our country succeeds.  Our plan for working families is focused on rewarding the hard work they do and saving the NHS they rely on.  And our campaign, policy announcements and manifesto have been about making clear that choice to the public on May 7th.

In contrast, the Tory campaign has veered from promising the earth to threatening oblivion. They move from being the party of tax cuts one week to the party of spending rises the next. One day they say it is all about a choice between David Cameron and Ed Miliband, the next they turn down the opportunity to debate head to head and frame that choice more clearly to the public.

Consistency of message is crucial, especially in an increasingly crowded political space where parties are not just competing to win votes, they are first competing to be heard.

Credibility

Being heard though, is only part of the challenge. Whether people believe what they have heard you say is another of the fundamental tests of any successful political campaign.

Imagine if you were asked in a poll, how much you agree or disagree with a party’s policy to ‘invest in the NHS’. What are you actually being asked here? Do you support the principle of extra funding? Or do you believe that the party will deliver it?

I think the public deserve more credit than that. They know the difference between empty promises that would get them ticking the ‘agree’ box in a poll, and credible policy pledges that can be delivered in government.

That’s why Labour’s first page of our manifesto made clear where we stand on this. We will not offer anything we can’t deliver. We will not promise spending we can’t fund. And we will not pledge changes we cannot make.

The Conservatives have taken a different approach. They want to bank what credibility they think they have as a party of government, and then stretch the benefit of the doubt that the public might give them as a party in the midst of a tight campaign. There unfunded spending spree will be seen for what it is, and they have clearly decided that being heard is more important than being believed. I genuinely believe this will cost the Tories votes on May 7th.

Conviction

Of course the practicalities of how you run a campaign are important. But the truth is that campaigns are the public’s chance to understand not just the policies, but also the personality of a party.

Ultimately the judgement they face at the ballot box is about whether they are willing to give their vote to a party they can believe in and whose vision they share. And because of this, the way parties convey conviction in a campaign is absolutely key.

One of the key tests of political conviction at this election has focused on whether you are willing to engage in a politics of narrow nationalism and tactical territorialism; or whether you are willing to defend the principles and values that bind us together, rather than exploiting that which can divide us.

The Conservative Party, worried about losing power, have chosen to talk up the prospects of the SNP and pit English nationalism against Scottish nationalism.

The Labour Party has taken a different course. We believe we are stronger together. We support and stand for working people in every part of our country. We won’t enter a coalition or pact with this nationalist party that remains dedicated to the break up of the United Kingdom and the pooling and sharing of resources on which it is built.

Labour is campaigning for a majority on May 7th and I am confident that with your help, we can achieve it together.

With every day of this campaign that passes, my pride in the achievements, determination and resolve of our team of campaigners has grown.

I know that after weeks of campaigning, these final few days will feel tough – but the harder it gets the more it matters. And I know you understand that better than anyone, which is why this weekend, we had twice as many people out volunteering as last week.

So now is the time to pull on all those reserves. Because May 8th will feel like a totally different moment in history if we keep going all the way till May 7th together.

Thanks for all your support so far and for your hard work in these final, and vital, weeks.

Douglas