A blog by Luke Akehurst about politics, elections, and the Labour Party - With subtitles for the Hard of Left. Just for the record: all the views expressed here are entirely personal and do not necessarily represent the positions of any organisations I am a member of.
My Progress column today is the remarks I made on "Is the coalition reshaping the political centre?" at a panel discussion at Progress Annual Conference on Saturday:
posted by Luke Akehurst at 8:48 pm
Labour Party activist since 1988 - firmly on the moderate wing of the party. Member of Labour’s NEC 2010-2012 and since 2020. National Secretary of Labour Students 1995-6. Parliamentary candidate for Aldershot (2001) and Castle Point (2005). Hackney Councillor (Chatham Ward) 2002-2014, Labour Group Chief Whip 2002-09, Chair of Health Scrutiny 2010-2014. Supporter of Europe, NATO/nuclear deterrence, Israel, electoral reform. Guardian reader. Dad. Oxford resident. Unite union member. Employment history as a Labour Party Organiser, Local Government Political Assistant, Director at a Public Affairs company. All views expressed in a personal capacity. The rest will become evident from reading the blog.
3 Comments:
Quite a thoughtful article.
But I think it would be wrong to assume that certain groups of voters cannot be won over to more progressive views.
If the Labour Party seeks to win the support of these people on the basis of their current beliefs, then it risks losing the support of progressive voters. This loss of votes could translate into lost seats.
Furthermore, the Labour Party has to face up to the fact that it has a problem in Scotland. In the long term, the SNP could threaten lots of Westminster seats.
It is interesting to compare Labour's recent performance in Scotland with what happened in Wales. In the former case, the Labour Party only seemed to offer fear. In the latter case, Labour seemed to have more credibility as a force for hope.
10:37 am, May 28, 2011
If the SNP were so good, why are they sponsored by Brian Soutar who pays his Bus drivers a pittance all over the Nation?
12:54 am, May 29, 2011
Anonymous 12:54
I think you have cause and effect the wrong way round. He sponsors them because they are strong contenders for power. Were that not the case then I feel sure that he would drop them.
Similarly, Rupert Murdoch's newspapers swung to Blair and the Labour Party in 1997. Murdoch clearly saw that Blair was likely to win that election and wanted to co-opt him.
I trust this answers your question.
12:36 pm, May 31, 2011
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