‘Cowards flinch! A rallying cry’

Can you hear that? It’s our detractors, cheering. In Lewisham, we lost 40 good comrades from the council. 41, if you count a retiring councillor’s beloved, ancient cat, who died, presumably from shock, hours after our borough fell to the Green Party.  

The 2026 local elections have earned their place in our cabinet of catastrophes, aided by drifting voters, dwindling numbers of activists, and new defectors to our enemies announced every few days. ‘Rats from a sinking ship’, one commentator suggested.  

A council that’s insourced our council housing, implemented transformative landlord licensing, built new affordable homes, defended local libraries and youth services, and helped make Lewisham’s secondary schools the most improved in the country was badly punished. Punished for what exactly?

Oh, yes, the government – right.    

Surely not the same Labour government that’s bringing our rail and energy back into public hands, delivered the Employment Rights Bill, banned no-fault evictions, cut NHS waiting lists, and removed cruel benefit caps? Surrounded by snake-oil populists to our left and right, it’s striking how the facts of what has been achieved proved a harder sell for the average voter than the fantasy of what could be if only things were – that siren call – completely different.

READ MORE: Politics is complicated and that’s OK

It’s not just our voters; fantasy has been the comfortable home of many left-wing politicians for too long. In opposition, we were brave with our demands. In power, we’ve become slow to defend ourselves. All Labour governments are a miracle. As with many miracles, this one has been met with suspicion even from our own side; not because it is wholly unworthy, but because we are no longer practised in the simple act of recognising, let alone championing, what Labour looks like in power.  

Since I lost my own seat in Deptford, friends have been asking me ‘what’s next?’ I think, in the face of years of hard work being rewarded with a crushing defeat, what they’re really asking is ‘why bother? Why not sack this off and go to the pub? Be young! Enjoy your life!’

But even when our inner political animals feel more kicked dog than king of the jungle, we know the truth, don’t we? Like all love stories, the highs are worth the pain.

The idea that politics is a burden that we should look to shrug off as soon as is convenient proliferates when our argument becomes too focused on the ‘how’. Sorry, wonks, but ‘how’ is boring: which levers we’ll pull, which focus group said what about the specifics of which policy. In a divided country, where life’s little joys still feel out of reach for so many, I suspect the moment calls instead for our answer to that ‘why’.  

My continued membership of the Labour Party is the greatest act of love I can think of. Take my time, my work, my peace. Take it all and turn our efforts into the bricks from which we’ll build the world as we know it should be: fair, prosperous, free. The argument for our existence is moral, not procedural. The proof is in every desperate person who has been given a home or the means to feed their children. The only motivation I need to stick with our movement is knowing that, through our work, politics is transformed from an idea into an outstretched hand: we’re here, we’re with you. How could the question of how we should live, which conditions we should expect or accept, ever be boring?

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With Andy Burnham set to stand in what will surely be one of the most pivotal by-elections of the century, we are now entering “a battle for the soul of the party”. Yes – another one. Burnham, a politician who has learned to move between our traditions while retaining his own clarity of vision and emotional connection with voters, would be my pick for our next leader, when the time comes. But first, the people of Makerfield have to decide if he is theirs. His path to Westminster is a risky one, but we are all at a cliff edge now.

If we want people to trust us again, we must show them we can be brave. Voters hate a coward.

That means us too, my fellow rank-and-file members. While our political and media class descend on Makerfield, it’s up to us to defend the home front. I know we’re all bruised. So many candidates and campaigners across our movement have worked themselves to the bone, only to lose and lose badly. It would be so easy to slink off and hope that whichever man or woman finds themselves at the top come 2029 will wash away our shame and deliver us to victory. But you didn’t really think any of this would be easy, did you?

Luckily, bravery doesn’t need to be complicated. Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is continue putting one foot in front of the other. Support our local parties. Rally round our remaining representatives in local government. Get to know your local MP, because God knows they’re going to need your help. Debate each other in good faith and resist the pull of factional fray that only ever leaves us weaker, worse off.

Already, the tide is turning. Reform and the Greens struggled to fill their slates in many places, meaning unsuitable candidates, unprepared for the demands of their office, have been elected. What does that mean? By-elections, coming to a town near you! With six already announced in London alone, we have to be ready to fight. So, wipe that bloody nose and prepare to get back out there. You can’t flinch now. We have more to lose, and much, much more to win.  

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