Mainstream, a new Labour Party group was launched on 8th September. Their aim is to change the perception that the soft left of the party had completely disappeared as Prime Minister Keir Starmer leads the party from one crisis to another.
Mainstream was founded by Compass, which itself was established in 2003 to promote alternatives to Blairism. Key supporters of Mainstream are said to include Andy Burnham, Clive Efford (chair of the hundred-plus Tribune Group of MPs), former cabinet ministers John Denham and Clare Short, Stewart Wood (Ed Miliband’s intellectual consigliere), the Blue Labourite Jon Cruddas, Geoff Mulgan (Tony Blair’s former policy director), MPs Clive Lewis, Dawn Butler, Paula Barker, Olivia Blake and Alex Sobel, and the former Momentum chair Jon Lansman. In other words, it represents a coming together of Milibandites, the left wing of New Labour and the more pluralistic wing of Corbynism. Clearly Mainstream intends to revive the Labour concept of being a broad church.
One of the veterans of Labour First, the “old right” activist group, Luke Akehurst commented: “I hope this new grouping will focus on promoting positive policy ideas that the government might consider rather than factional organising in opposition to the leadership internally within the party.”
A desire to innovate and progress
Mainstream’s purpose isn’t only to put forward ideas; it also seeks to apply serious pressure on the government. Its promoters argue that the Labour leadership is now badly out of step with the wider party, and they warn that unless there is a dramatic course correction, the government will fail to deliver real change and risks being defeated by Reform UK.
However, the most significant aspect of Mainstream is the involvement of one key figure: Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester and the northern king across the water. At the Compass conference in May, he set out a popular left-wing programme, deliberately positioning himself in contrast to Keir Starmer. As Labour’s troubles have mounted, this alternative has gained traction. Burnham is widely seen within the party as popular, with the character and politics needed to win nationally. His plus 78 favourability rating among members underlines the growing sense in Labour circles that many are increasingly willing this to happen.
Is Burnham the one person who might save Labour?
It is becoming increasingly clear to many people that the Labour government, after just 14 months and despite its huge majority, is in such a bad position, may only be saved by the removal of Starmer as leader and the establishment of Burnham in his place.
Burnham certainly seems to be the only high-profile senior member of the Labour Party with any real imagination, with any interesting policies and perhaps most importantly of all with a record in Greater Manchester which suggests that he actually really knows what he is doing.
The success of Manchester under Burnham
Indeed the MP Chris Curtis, co-chair of the Labour Growth group has noted that Greater Manchester is the fastest-growing region in Britain, with productivity growth over the last ten years outstripping every other region, crucially including London. Curtis argues convincingly that speed and scale of the growth in Greater Manchester owes a great deal to strong leadership with decisive actions and a confident manner, while others have hesitated.
Significantly, Curtis goes on to say: “Devolution is part of the story, but what matters is how it was used. Greater Manchester combined a sophisticated settlement with strong local leadership. Andy Burnham’s mayoralty, working alongside council leaders, built a culture that looks for ways to say yes to investment, rather than the risk-averse instinct in Whitehall to say no. That strong political leadership has encouraged investors and accelerated reforms”.
Curtis claims, with good reason, that the results are there for all to see. He rightly describes a “simplified transport system with capped fares has widened access to jobs. Regeneration and densification have breathed life back into the city centre, encouraging the agglomeration effects on which modern economies thrive. An ambitious local industrial strategy focused on technology and innovation has drawn high-value firms and jobs”.
It is also notable that Curtis, himself an MP for Milton Keynes North notes that “Whitehall must realise that devolution is not a favour to the regions, it is a national productivity strategy. The closer power sits to people, the quicker it can be wielded. The further away it is from some of our risk adverse national institutions, the more likely we are to attract investment into the UK. Fundamentally, local leaders can cut through and act decisively at a speed Westminster cannot match.”
The North can be a powerhouse of ideas and productivity, if just given the chance.
More ideas from Burnham
Mainstream can work within the Labour Party to develop and establish other ideas that have come from people like Burnham and his neighbouring Metro Mayor for Liverpool, Steve Rotheram. These include a proper review of the Barnett Formula, which has been so harmful to the north of England for so long, and meaningful changes made to the Treasury Green Book, which favours investment in the south east of England over the north.
Mainstream could also promote other Burnham inspired ideas, such as a written constitution and basic law, which would overcome the injustices perpetuated by the Green Book and instead see fair investment across the nations and regions of the UK. It could work to change the whip system, increase devolved powers to the regions and scrap the House of Lords, to be replaced by a senate of the nations and regions. At present, 55% of members of the Lords live in just three regions: east and south east England and London.
Mainstream could champion the development of a meaningful post-14 plan in education for students who are more gifted technically than academically and indeed this could be linked to a serious drive towards net zero, with young people in regions such as our own North East, being given opportunities in new green energy industries.
The list goes on… Mainstream could follow Burnham’s example in thinking outside the box and especially the M25 motorway box. One of the most interesting ideas mooted by Burnham this year has been his five cities plan which would see Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Belfast and Dublin, working more closely together to encourage healthy economic growth and other forms of development. This is exactly the kind of innovative thinking that has been sorely lacking from Starmer’s moribund government in its first 14 months.
Founding signatory of Mainstream comment
Julie Ward is an ex-Labour MEP for the north west region and a founding signatory of Mainstream. Julie commented:
“I am proud to stand alongside Labour stalwarts like Lord Alf Dubs, Manchester Metro Mayor Andy Burnham and Clare Short (former Secretary of State for International Development) as a founding member of the new ‘Mainstream’ network. Many Labour members are deeply disappointed by the direction of travel chosen by the current leadership which has sadly done so much to alienate grassroots members whether it be on foreign policy, asylum seekers, rowing back on environmental pledges, anti-protest legislation, welfare cuts and more.
“After 14 years of Tory chaos and austerity the country needed true Labour values of social and economic justice to be at the heart of government. Mainstream is about bringing together those unashamed progressive voices within the party and demanding a change of direction. We need to stop running scared of Reform and offer a real alternative rather than aping anti-migrant rhetoric.
“As well as bold transformative policies we also need to change how we elect our future governments. Our first past the post electoral system is outdated and not fit for purpose. Working with our partners at Compass, Mainstream will campaign for a fairer and more representative vote share across the political spectrum. It is clear that two party politics is not working and we must move closer to systems used in current modern democracies where every vote counts and safe seats are a thing of the past, where proportional representation results in consensus-driven politics and less extreme governments. It was how I did politics at European level and it’s way overdue here in the UK.”
Comment
The most telling aspect of the establishment of Mainstream is that it can act as a machine to propel Andy Burnham forward towards the Labour leadership. While he is not an MP at the moment, it isn’t hard to imagine him contesting some (relatively) safe Labour seat, in the North West before too long and seriously being considered as Labour leader. Indeed Andrew Marr has recently claimed that it is an open secret that the Labour MP Andrew Gwynne may surrender his Manchester Gorton and Denton seat to allow Burnham back into the Commons.
Mainstream may become the vehicle to help Burnham get to No.1 and failing that it may at least become a vehicle for the kind of innovative, progressive ideas that could help to both revive the nation and defeat Reform. There is no reason why Labour should be blindly following Reform’s agenda. Hopefully Mainstream can prove this. This will become especially urgent if, as expected, Labour fails badly in the various elections next May.
What is also interesting about Burnham is the way that he has developed and grown as a politician, since he escaped the Westminster bubble and returned to his native north of England. There is a lot for us to learn from that, and here in the North we really should make sure our voices are heard. It is interesting to see how many innovative and effective policies are being developed, far away from SW1. I would like to think that Mainstream could reflect this as well.
Labour’s last hope?
Next year will mark 50 years since we last had a Prime Minister, born in the north of England. Is it time for another one? Meanwhile can Mainstream save Labour from the death spiral it has been put in by the right-wing political and economic straitjacket that it has been forced into by the likes of Starmer, Reeves and Cooper?
That last northern Prime Minister Harold Wilson famously said that the Labour Party was “a moral crusade, or it was nothing”. Perhaps Mainstream will not only be Labour’s last chance to defeat Reform, but also to save its own soul.
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