In praise of careerists

Labour needs career politicians. Those in the party campaigning for the demise of the so-called ‘spadocracy’ – installed in the Blair years and maintained under the Miliband regime – in favour of an amorphous ‘new democracy’ not only threaten to rob parliament of some of Labour’s greatest assets, but demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of why these politicians are so successful in the first place.

To the anti-careerist, it is taken as an article of faith that professional politicians – those who tread the well-worn path from parliamentary bag-carrier, to special advisor, to safe Labour seat – are inherently inferior to those elected from outside the Westminster bubble. For such malcontents, the pithy takedown of The Thick of It’s fictional minister Dan Miller (who shares more than a passing resemblance to the ill-fated David Miliband) as a “brushed aluminium cyberprick” rings true of Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, and Liz Kendall, along with most of the rest of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP).

In deriding these politicians, however, anti-careerists betray a world view that sees politics as a game to play rather than the professional pursuit of power. This is a problem, because it suggests that political success owes nothing to skill or experience.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The arcane minutiae of parliamentary procedure in the hands of the experienced careerist can be wielded as effectively as any other weapon in the political arsenal. As can a deft thirty-second spot on Newsnight or Prime Minister’s Questions.

Learning this stuff doesn’t come overnight. Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell may have spent a career in politics, but they are not career politicians of the ‘brushed aluminium’ variety. It shows in every media snafu and parliamentary misstep – of which the fiscal charter u-turn is only the most recent example. We need those with a lifetime’s experience shimmying up the greasy pole to avoid these kind of own goals and hit the opposition hard when the opportunity presents itself.

As an example of how to do it right, take Yvette Cooper’s masterful turn during the European arrest warrant debacle in November last year, where the then-Shadow Home Secretary embarrassed the government over its attempts to carry a vote on opting-in to the legislation by stealth. Her manoeuvring resulted in the ludicrous spectacle of David Cameron rushing back from a Mansion House dinner in full white tie to avoid a humiliating Commons defeat. Deliciously embarrassing news coverage for the Prime Minister followed.

Praise for Cooper in this instance came from some unfamiliar quarters, including The Spectator. Isabel Hardman wrote of the episode: “Today has seen one of the best Commons performances that Yvette Cooper has given as Shadow Home Secretary. She managed to highlight the absence of the arrest warrant before the vote and exploited Speaker Bercow’s statement to the full. Then she showed cunning by introducing the motion that the question on the order paper asking MPs to vote on the measures was delayed.”

Here, Cooper and her allies did what careerists do best: bolstered her own public profile while humiliating the opposition. It was very ‘old politics’. It was also very effective. The manoeuvre cheered Labour MPs, helped stoke divisions between the government and Eurosceptic Tory backbenchers, and wounded – perhaps fatefully – Theresa May’s chances of becoming the next Conservative leader.

Career politicians succeed in these instances because they know full well that no small victory goes unremembered. They all contribute to their own personal store of political capital, which they can then cash in when the time is right to gain a more senior position – as long as there is no bothersome internal election to fight first, as Cooper found to her chagrin earlier this year.

Personally I do not care about the underlying motives of those who work to further the ends of the Labour Party both in and out of parliament. So what if careerists only do what they do for their own gain? As long as they are using all their means to bash the Tories and win people around to vote Labour, I’m happy.

We need these savvy players at all levels of the party too. As young Labour moderates discovered to their cost this summer, an internal election cannot be won by attending the odd party social and adding a Twibbon to your Twitter profile picture. You have to be willing to sacrifice all hours of the day and night to fight for your politics within the Labour party, as furiously as you do in the country at large. If you really want to win, you have to go to those CLP meetings on a Friday evening while your friends are out at the pub and make the case for your candidate. You have to convince, charm, and cajole your fellows to turn up too. Is it any surprise that those who do this are also adept at winning elections too? No. Careerists get elected because they are good at politics. Because they see it, rightfully, as a profession.

There are few prizes in politics, and even fewer worth winning. Those who give their all for the party in pursuit of the interests of the few deserve our support, not our condemnation.