‘Labour has lost hundreds of elected members – how we care for them now will define what comes next’

Amongst many other profound issues to arise from last Thursday’s election results, there is one matter for the Labour Party which so often gets overlooked.

I am talking about the pain, disappointment and feeling of rejection that so many good people experience when the electorate turn against them – or rather, against the Party.

There are two aspects to this. The first is the human, emotional side. So often forgotten, but as with so many other similar major upheavals in life, there can be profound consequences for individuals, their relationships and how they perceive themselves and their future.

Dame Jane Roberts has written about this, both in terms of Parliamentary representatives and what happens at local level when people “forget”. In my view we owe a debt of gratitude, as well as a duty of care – nationally, locally and in Scotland and Wales – to try and offer some support – despite our limited resources.

READ MORE: Starmergeddon

The second – and something that may have long-term consequences – is the immediate drop-off of what might be described as “key activists”: who are centres of their community, who have a voice and a place in the neighbourhood and, by the very nature of their work, are pulling in family and friends as well as other party members into “activity”. When they’ve gone, it’s not only their work, but others around them that could be badly affected.

To lose well in excess of a thousand councillors – no longer on the front line of politics in their area, speaking out for and being the face of the Party. The consequences of the potential “hollowing out” of constituencies, and the party machine at local level could be profound. That is why, in taking account of this, we need to work out how we can keep people involved and active, motivated and with the morale that enables them to do the lousy job which campaigning sometimes amounts to.

It is, after all, human nature to stay involved when you have a personal connection, a definable commitment, and therefore an objective. Once that formal role has ceased, it is quite likely that you will feel deflated and, in some cases, demoralised. Given that it is also likely that you will feel that it’s “not my fault”, re-engaging vigorously and as a party member is a big ask. 

Yet if we are to survive the immediate future, to fight back and to build from the community upwards – which is how our party developed in the first place, we have to go back to those roots; to the values we espouse and the cause that drives us to want to be involved in politics. 

It’s sod’s law that we are cash-strapped, that some of our big trade union donors are “offside”, and therefore we don’t have the wherewithal to do the reaching out, of finding a positive pathway for those who wish to remain active, and above all, to give people hope that they might return to an elected role in the future.

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Yet, despite all these constraints, we cannot just let things go. Keeping in touch with those who have lost their seats, working out how they might be able to bring their experience and expertise to bear in relation to social media and other forms of engagement in their communities, has to be an imperative.

We do have 400 paid professionals who, whilst not being able to use their staff directly politically, have the opportunity to reach tens of thousands of people, quite legitimately, as Members of Parliament. Using that massive resource effectively is even more vital in the aftermath of 7th May.

This is a resource that the Greens and Reform UK do not have, and it is vital that we make the most of this asset. It won’t happen by accident, so it needs some thinking about and consultation, not only with our backbenchers but with special advisers whose job it is to ensure that ministers are connected with the real world of politics – rather than being isolated in departments with ministers acting as technocrats rather than as political drivers of change.

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And what do I know? Well, after 63 years in the Party and being active at both local and national level, I do have some clue – including eight years in Cabinet.

Frankly, we have to turn being in government from a disadvantage to a great opportunity. As the Tories have shown, time and time again over the last century when they were faced with the mass ranks of Labour councillors controlling local authorities across the country, government is a resource like no other. This is in our hands, and it’s up to us to make the most of it. 

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