‘Labour’s real challenge is fixing Britain’s story, not just its problems’

There’s an old meme where one friend says, “I’m mad.” His friend replies, “here’s a solution,” handing over a note. The first person sets it on fire and shouts: “I don’t want a solution. I want to be mad!”

Naively sanguine politicos could learn something from this. Offering rational fixes to despairing British voters won’t work. A different kind of communication is needed; one equipped for an era of social media and artificial intelligence.

This week has seen the commentariat push back against the ‘Broken Britain’ narrative. First, Sam Freedman, author of Britain’s best-read politics Substack newsletter, wrote a blog titled “Britain isn’t broken,” taking policy concerns one by one and explaining why matters aren’t as disastrous as often described (a slight reverse ferret on his book Failed State, published one year ago).

Then, in response to Conservative shadow minister Neil O’Brien bizarrely arguing that Britain takes inspiration from Japan’s Meiji Restoration, “about as dramatic a rupture as a large society has undergone”, the Financial Times’ Janan Ganesh lowered the temperature by comparing Britain to its similarly flagging peers and not-so-golden past, often seen through rose-tinted glasses.

Both made their cases excellently. And it’s important that they and others continue to do so. Doomerism is self-perpetuating and leads us (like O’Brien) to support unnecessarily radical solutions that risk actually breaking Britain. With Reform voters most likely to report low life satisfaction, it’s Nigel Farage who would benefit – and the rest of us who’d suffer the consequences.

But it’s too late for Freedman’s and Ganesh’s sage moderation to win voters over. After years of being told that Britain is broken – first by David Cameron in opposition, then Labour attacking Rishi Sunak, and now Reform going after ‘the establishment’ itself – voters have started to believe it.

‘Tackling Broken Britain is a communications challenge too’

A More in Common poll of 20,000 Britons two weeks ago found that 73% think that “the Government does not have things under control,” half think that “the cost-of-living crisis will never end,” and 74% believe that “Britain’s best years are behind us.” When asked to describe Britain in a word, the three most common choices were broken, mess and struggling.

Of course, we need smart policies and institutional reform to materially improve life in the UK. Nobody sensible believes that the NHS is fit for purpose, housing is affordable, or our immigration system serves us as well as it could.

But real change takes time, and the public is impatient. Talk of “fixing the foundations”, a “plan for change” or “backing the builders not the blockers” may accurately describe what the government is trying to achieve. But as Keir Starmer is discovering, these messages don’t cut through. Tackling Broken Britain is a communications challenge too.

Throughout history, some talented leaders have been able to sell visions of hope. Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Tony Blair and Barack Obama; all dripping with charisma and able to articulate the world they wanted to create, and the world they wanted to leave behind. Labour’s stilted frontman makes selling a vision of hope difficult, however.

But Starmer’s job is also harder than his predecessors. Unlike lobby journalists, social media is impossible to control. Everyone is on it all the time. It’s a hive mind dissecting and critiquing governments every move. And due to the nature of algorithms, it’s mainly negative, paranoid and anxiety-inducing.

Until recently, the only politician who cracked the code to communicating in the social media age was Donald Trump. Whatever you think of his politics or personality, Trump’s strategy of constant viral distractions (i.e. flooding the zone) takes control of the narrative. But the goal of Trump’s approach (“disorientation,” according to Steve Bannon) perpetuates fear and negativity. That won’t work for Starmer.

‘Starmer should look for talent further afield’

Last month, Zohran Mamdani showed there is another way. Mamdani unexpectedly won the race to become Democratic nominee for the mayor of New York City with a creative campaign of cinematic-style social media videos, authentic public interactions, and influencer collaborations.

As Conservatives, inspired by the success of Robert Jenrick’s fare dodging video, pace around recording angry monologues, Labour could learn something from Mamdani’s digital-first strategy that above all else demonstrated his love of the city and its people.

There’s a danger Labour learns the wrong lessons about how to win on social media by taking a leaf out of MAGA’s combative, shrill and rude tone. This week, Starmer supported his technology minister’s shameful suggestion that Farage was on the side of Jimmy Saville for voicing reasonable concerns about the new Online Safety Act. That’s not how you teach Britons to hope again.

Communication in the social media era is difficult. A new approach is needed, and Labour hiring an ex-Sun editor to lead its effort is uninspiring, no matter how talented David Dinsmore is. Mamdani has shown a way forward. To implement it, Starmer should look for talent further afield.

As AI begins to affect public discourse, Starmer should apply the same Mamdani principles. Lean towards the light, not darkness. His opponents will undoubtedly use deep fakes, social media bots and manipulate large language models. But doing so undermines trust and makes governing harder. Digital and hopeful, that’s the way.

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