Labour’s collapse: Thatcher’s work?
To look at why Labour are losing their heartlands, we have to start by thinking about how they built those heartlands.
For decades, large parts of Britain were dominated by Labour, and nowhere was this seen more strongly than in the coalfields and small industrial towns. Trade Unions were strong, and importantly they were at the heart of their communities. And when an election came round there was a ready made network, the campaign was based around making sure that network turned out. The Labour MP elected would have a close link with working people in their constituency, and where they needed an army of volunteers, they were close at hand.
Fast forward into the 21st century- Thatcher’s attacks on industry and unions has gradually taken it’s toll. In these same towns and villages, and where people do work, they’re part of a fragmented and less unionised workforce. Unions and Labour still exist but they’re more remote from more people. Legislation and regulation has depoliticised unions. What was once a movement centred on industrial communities has become most predominant in public service employers in the big cities.
This all means that Labour have been surviving on voting habits, word of mouth, and the fact that nobody’s really been there to challenge them. In many safe Labour constituencies and wards, the community link is severed and Labour have now as a result been neglecting communities for decades.
It’s important to note that when I say “neglecting”, I’m not saying that working people haven’t always been stood up for. Broadly speaking, Labour this decade can take a lot of credit for speaking out and voting against Tory (and Lib Dem) austerity, cuts and other regressive policy. Neither am I saying that Labour MPs haven’t been responsive to constituents and done their casework- many of them will have been literally a lifesaver to hundreds. What’s been missing has been the more proactive engagement that takes teams, resources and a supportive culture to organise in communities. People need to believe that their MP is listening and acting and that they’ve got people’s backs the way that the Union used to. Without this, politicians are perceived to be storming into their constituencies at election time with a saviour complex, having never previously done anything.
The problem is that the Labour movement has become irrelevant to too many people. This slide to irrelevance happens more quickly outside the cities, in constituencies where relevancy has been needed more than anywhere.
Politicians without good community links are very vulnerable. It means that the electorate can more easily be bought or manipulated. An expensive and well-executed remotely organised campaign can only easily be defeated by a trusted personal connection built up over a long period. This, I believe, is what made many traditionally working class areas vulnerable to persuasion to back Brexit. In this election, it appears that Boris Johnson has managed to tap into this in a bigger way than his predecessors.
This vacuum also, I would suggest, sped up the demise of Scottish Labour this decade.
Whatever you feel about the merits of Jeremy Corbyn as leader, about the Labour manifesto or about their position (or lack of it) on Brexit, it’s the longer-term vulnerability that’s allowed the Tories to run rings around them, planting doubts and striking fears at an alarming rate. A sustained community-based operation would have allowed these to fears to be countered and disproved. People believe an MP with whom they’ve had ongoing personal contact more than they’d believe a story in a tabloid newspaper.
The warning signs have been there for some time. Look at how Dennis Skinner’s majority in Bolsover, which permanently hovered around 20,000 until 2005 was alarmingly dropping until his eventual defeat this week.
Some have suggested- showing evidence like the BBC graphic showing a the swing to the Tories being 5 times bigger in strong leave area than in strong remain areas- that this divide was a reaction to Brexit, but there’s an alternative explanation, that the ongoing community vacuum was exploited by leave, and the Tories have simply stepped in.
People in working class communities in the North of England and the Midlands don’t naturally and disproportionately fear foreigners. They’re not somehow more English Nationalist than people in other communities. What happens is they hear the right wing media loudly and don’t see any other routes to improving their lives.
The answer, of course, is to give them a route to improving their lives, and that means investing time and resources into repairing their link with progressive politics. Everybody needs to have regular contact with their politicians and their teams, and see that they are genuine in supporting their interests.
I’m not a Labour member or activist, but I’m heartbroken to see that we woke up to a Tory Government and not a Labour-led one.
It’s important to acknowledge that Labour have been getting to work on this. The Corbyn Leadership has been keen to support and coordinate community organisers, but to close the gap that’s opened, it needs to be permanent, well resourced and be allowed to work over a period of many years. The first response to this week’s results should be a systematic programme of hiring, training and supporting professional community organisers in every key constituency, with particular attention on those that have been lost or look vulnerable. Labour at a national level have an income of around £50 million. 10% of this, supplemented by funds raised locally and the increase in membership income, would go a very long way.
But it doesn’t have to be Labour. There are reasons why it may be harder for Labour to be the answer- is it harder to regain lost trust than to build new trust, and do Labour have in their DNA a resistance to adapting to new circumstances? It doesn’t have to be a political party, either. The job is in the hands of any party or campaign to do this but it’s only by recreating trust in former industrial communities that they can be turned back to electing left wing politicians once again. If we don’t do this, Thatcher’s work will be complete.
