Daily Archives: 5 May, 2012

What the Parties Need to Do Next

by labourluke

This may turn out to be one of my last blog posts as a Birmingham University Labour Student, before I, like so many others, get tossed on to the proverbial dung heap of youth unemployed in this country, thanks directly to the Coalition government’s economic policies, festering away in the hot summer sun, ignored by the generations who came before us who had it so good.

I think our very own Max has already eloquently and fairly captured Labour’s performance in this week’s mosaic of elections, rightly arguing that although it was a fantastic night for Labour and a bad night for pretty much everyone else, including the media who wound themselves up for a Labour defeat in Glasgow and drubbing in London, we still have a long way to go, and are only at ‘Kinnock levels’ of support at present.

Therefore I will just sum up where I think the main parties should go from here, and although I am in no position whatsoever to know what goes on in the heads of the British voters (all five of them who bothered), I will try tentatively to capture what they may have been thinking.

First of all, the Tories. These guys need to get real – after weeks of headlines about being out of touch, with pasties, grannies and income tax, they see the local election results as a resounding call from the electorate to try and get more out of touch, if that is at all possible. In backbenchers’ post-match analysis  (reliably backed by the Daily Mail) this has varied from House of Lords reform, to equal marriage concerns to a need for fewer wind turbines. They’re even proposing an ‘alternative Queen’s Speech’. As if those who voted against the Tories who were unemployed and couldn’t afford to pay the gas bill, or even had to resort to food banks, weren’t bothered by this, but were damned if they were going to see Lord Sugar get made redundant, or let Adam and Steve down the road get hitched. No, guys, they don’t want YOU redistributing wealth from the most vulnerable to the richest in society, making them pay for the failure of neo-liberal economics.

Next, Labour: We need to be confident in our leader, who may have some work still to do but is a leader who is connecting with people, does have a vision for the future forming in his head, and is capable of heading a talented team of potential ministers. We also must reach out to those who didn’t go out and vote on Thursday, giving them a positive reason to run to the polling booths at 7am to vote Labour – even in the bloody rain. We need a plan for fair, green investment in industry to bring growth and jobs back to the economy. We need to bite our tongues and reach out to the Liberal Democrats, and not be tempted to laugh and cackle at their coming behind penguins and fascists in some wards – this isn’t funny, this is worrying. Everybody knows most of them would rather be in coalition with Labour than the Tories.

What about the Greens? They need to let us steal some of their policies.

And finally, the Lib Dems: Exit the Coalition, stage Left.

Labour’s best local election result since 1995 and the Tories’ worst since 1996, yeah, we’ll take that

by maxattacks

Labour leader Ed Miliband with Labour Group leader Sir Albert Bore

Ed Miliband in Birmingham yesterday with Birmingham Council Labour Group leader, Sir Albert Bore

That’s right, throughout Friday Labour saw it’s best performance in a local election since 1995 (all in proportion to how many Council elections were up for grabs as last year we gained more but far more were up for grabs). And similarly the Tories saw their worst local election result since 1996 and the Lib Dems now have dropped down below 3,000 councillors for the first time in the party’s existence.

This was a result that exceeded everyone’s expectations on all fronts. With most Tories attempting to spin the result to say we needed around 450 councillor gains to be seen as a success, we only smashed that with 823! When everyone expected Scottish Labour to lose Glasgow City Council we not only fought off a SNP challenge but took control of the council at the expense of the Lib Dems and Tories. When everyone said Labour would only win a slight majority in our very own Birmingham City Council, we smashed all expectations by gaining 20 councillors and winning a 34 seat majority. When it was expected Welsh Labour would fail in taking Cardiff City Council, we defied all predictions by gaining 33 councillors and winning a majority of 17! And we’re very proud of very nearly almost gaining control of the Greater London Assembly, falling short by 1 Assembly member.

This election wasn’t without its disappointments though. BULS’s very own Honourary life Member, Dennis Minnis, was unsuccessful in taking Edgbaston. And biggest of all, huge disappointment at Ken’s defeat. We are all glad Ken did defy most  (but not all, sadly) odds by not letting Boris have a shoe-in election by pushing the margin on the second round to a close 3%. Many Tories see Boris as the next leader and Prime Minister in waiting. “Wiff-waff” may well have edged it in London, don’t expect the country to do the same.

Of course, the results did see successes close to our hearts in BULS. Obviously there was turning Birmingham City Council red, but BULS saw former student of the University of Birmingham, Karen McCarthy, join former BULS Secretary, Brigid Jones, as a Councillor for Selly Oak. Quinton ward, where Grandee Nash played a large hand in, was also successful in electing Caroline Bradley.

All in all, while this was a brilliant result for Labour nationally we have to remember this has happened to opposition parties in the past. Hague, Howard and Kinnock all saw similar successes at mid-term local elections in their time in opposition. This was a much needed boost, not a prelude for the general election. Though it is safe to say, that the media, politicians and the wider public can no longer claim Miliband has no chance at 2015. There’s still a hell of a lot of work to be done, but we now know that we still do have a shot at 2015.

Max