‘We must mobilise not just to win, but to keep Labour in and the far left out’

The Labour party is gearing up to fight a general election, with incredible focus and energy being devoted to electing a Labour government led by Keir Starmer as Prime Minister.

On the back of the recent national executive committee (NEC) away day and the Labour First annual meeting, I wanted to discuss a bigger challenge that should also be exercising us.

Labour should aspire – and plan – to govern for multiple terms

Question – is it too early to start thinking about future general elections? Keir still has yet to win a first term. But should we be waiting until Keir is installed in No 10 before giving thought to the following general election and the one after that?

I was first elected to the NEC at the same time Keir was elected leader of the Labour Party in April 2020. My platform for standing has always included working to make the Labour Party into an election-winning machine again as the Labour Party founders intended and gave priority to in Clause 1 of the rulebook.

Much of what has exercised us at the NEC since then has been about just that – making the Labour Party match-fit and ready to fight and win a general election. The agenda for the recent NEC away day was mostly items directly related to the general election: political strategy, organisational strategy, battleground seats, field mobilisation, candidate selections and policy.

The Labour Party now is in a place not many thought possible after the catastrophic 2019 defeat. We have a route to winning. And this has been down to much hard work by many of our members, activists, staff, roleholders and elected representatives. Hard work underpinned by single-mindedness, discipline and a real desire to win power.

I’m conscious that, for some, the previous sentence will be anathema, but I make no apology for being interested in winning power and wanting to make the Labour Party into the natural, default party of power in the UK. A Labour government will always be better for our communities. We should aspire to and plan to govern for multiple terms.

Too often, I’ve seen some amongst us, including parliamentarians, who will opt for the easy choice of opposition where they don’t need to get their hands sullied with making difficult decisions, or they choose to remain ideologically pure to their peers in their niche organisations or they prioritise maintaining a record of being at all the right protests or will cry betrayal the moment we are in a position to exercise power.

This isn’t good enough for our country, and it certainly doesn’t help our members and activists deliver for their communities. The ultimate betrayal is when those elected under the Labour Party banner shirk their responsibilities and refuse to take the difficult decisions and make the choices that will benefit our communities.

The struggle for the direction of the party is perpetual

So, what do we need to do if we are serious about winning and securing the future beyond one term? Have we not done enough already in the last few years?

We’ve been here before! The struggle for the direction of the Labour Party is a perpetual one. It’s one that reasserts itself when we least expect and particularly when we think we’ve achieved a moderate and winning path for the party.

There are some who think we have succeeded and the job is done and we no longer need the excellent input of organisations like Labour First, Progressive Britain and Labour to Win. They are mistaken and will be due a rude awakening.

The history of the Labour Party shows the dogma-driven far left often makes progress in our party when those in the social democratic tradition are distracted by being fully immersed in running government and exercising power.

Our communities cannot afford another period of the Labour Party being too distant from power to make any difference to their lives. That is not to say that our struggle within the party is for total control and dominance over other traditions. It is, though, one of maintaining a balance that is clearly weighted in favour of those seeking to pursue Clause 1 of the Labour Party rulebook.

It is also the case that the scale of devastation left by the Tories will require more than one term to reverse. This is recognised by Keir Starmer and the shadow cabinet and hence the mission-led approach put forward. A Labour government for one term is simply not enough.

If we are serious about the Labour Party replacing the Tory Party as the natural party of power, we need to bring a renewed and sustained focus on three things that will enable this to become a reality: vigilance, organisation and discipline. The changes of the last few years have been a big step forward but there is much more to do – even just for Keir to win his first general election and for that to be a successful term.

Some things I believe social democrats will need to pay attention to include:

1. Maintaining a healthy and balanced broad church

The Labour Party has always been a broad church with members from different traditions. We need to maintain the party as an attractive prospect for social democrats to join. We need to increase the political education work taking place and the support for members to organise at all levels.

Maintaining social democratic majorities and control amongst branches, Constituency Labour Parties, regional structures, national committees and conference is essential.

The party is also a broad church in the way it is organised with individual members, trade unions, socialist societies, councillors and the Parliamentary Labour Party all being key components. Social democrats must ensure we are organising within every one of those spheres as all have importance in maintaining an election-winning party.

Our affiliated socialist societies have always played an important role in the Labour Party, be that in policymaking, leading campaigning or supporting our frontbench spokespeople with expert advice rooted in knowledge and experience.

The Labour Party has a pretty unique structure in that, in ‘exchange’ for this, the affiliated socialist societies are allowed a significant say in the internal democracy of the Labour Party. This link is precious and must be protected against those who would seek to use it to undermine the election-winning purpose of the Labour Party.

Our trade unions are an integral part of the Labour Party too, yet too many have allowed those who do not share Labour Party values to have influence over Labour Party democracy. A lack of vigilance and organisation on our behalf can quickly result in significant shifts in the balance of power within respective unions and therefore the Labour Party, particularly at Labour’s annual conference where trade unions have 50% of the votes on many decisions.

A key factor in this is trade union internal ballots often having minuscule turnouts, even ranging from as little as 5% to 15%. The importance of social democrats organising within our trade unions cannot be understated, and the opportunity to make a real impact clearly exists.

2. Ensuring we represent and build relationships with communities

The events of October 7th and subsequently show how issues beyond our control can rapidly escalate and communities can be quickly polarised. We must increase our work to ensure we maintain good links with all our communities. This includes ensuring effective diversity and representation at all levels and ensuring we develop enduring long-term relationships.

Ensuring communities continue to see us as their natural party to support also requires our representatives to have courage and maintain discipline on often difficult issues. It is a given that we cannot deliver everything demanded of us all the time – even when in government.

There is nothing principled about taking a stance on foreign policy issues that is designed to appease whilst knowing it is not in our power to deliver. An approach that is honest on individual policy positions will yield better, longer-term benefits.

3. Focusing on election-winning work

The Labour Party’s reason for existence is defined in Clause 1 of the rulebook. One of the frustrations for me on the NEC is the amount of time we spend on things that are nice to do but have little relevance to winning a general election, or we do those things in a way that does not take account of winning a general election.

For example, the Labour Party is the party of equalities. In power, we have delivered some of the most progressive, far-reaching and life-changing legislation to improve equalities for all our communities. Our own internal structures should, and are, a model for improving equality and diversity at all levels.

But I am clear the relationship between what we do and the reason why we do it should always be weighted in favour of doing things in a way that helps us win elections. Anything beyond that may be good but is not necessarily a prime function of the Labour Party.

Another example is that, of course policy discussions are important, but some local parties focus on these at the exclusion of the vital elements of campaign activity, fundraising and organisation – which is ultimately how we will get to putting those policies into action. We must insist that all our structures at all levels are fit for purpose with a balanced approach that is clearly weighted towards achieving Clause 1 of the Labour Party rulebook.

I started with the question – is it too early to start thinking about future general elections? The answer – it isn’t too early, but we still have to win the next election first and we must always be thinking about how we win, because the Labour Party being in power is the thing that really matters for our communities.

In that endeavour, I’m reassured by the discussion and debate at the Labour First annual meeting that there are people at all levels of our party who understand the challenges facing us and are up for the battles ahead.