I was in Makerfield on polling day. So were very many other people. Labour Party members obviously felt this election was really important, existential even for the party, and turned out in their hordes. The Guardian even ran a piece saying that it was estimated that there would be 3000 volunteers and that this would so annoy the citizens that Labour would actually lose votes. When I talked to other volunteers they all expressed a similar view. This election was important and they all felt they had to be here. No-one thought the putative Burnham vs Starmer contest was inevitable, and few talked about it. What was important was stopping Reform UK and preventing the degradation and decline of British politics into nasty populism.
There were so many volunteers indeed that the organisers ran out of canvassing walks for them, and some had to hold placards and wave them at passing traffic. This turned out to be pretty effective.
In fact, the only person who shouted nasty comments about Starmer to me was a schoolgirl in the street. I reverted to schoolteacher mode and told her that her foul mouth did not become her, and she disappeared shamefaced. We did not encounter any nastiness with Reform canvassers and exchanged pleasantries with them. I almost felt sorry for the Restore helpers. There were few of them and they seem to have a lot to do
A cartoon circulated on Facebook showing the leader of Restore, Rupert Lowe, in a care home, attended by nurses of ethnic minority origin. (He is over 70) They were telling him to behave himself or there would be no one to look after him. (Restore campaigns to send all immigrants home.) As it happened, we did not have to worry about Restore. They did not poll well, and Andy Burnham beat Reform fair and square without Restore splitting the Reform vote. Andy got more votes than all the other candidates combined.
Vote Hope
I noticed many things. I have written here in the past that political parties seem to be hollowed out, run by old people with no new young ones joining. This campaign gave me a pleasant surprise. It was overrun with young people, Labour and Reform. We do not have to worry about politics dying out just yet. Secondly, I notice that the word “Labour Party” wasn’t mentioned anywhere. Posters had a picture of Andy Burnham, telling people to Vote Andy, Vote Hope. It reminded me of the posters Barack Obama used, which had a picture of him, with the one word “Hope” underneath. Perhaps the Labour Party brand is so tarnished the Party is reluctant to use it.
Prosperous and “left behind”
Other political habits and traditions seemed to being binned too. I canvassed in Orrell, which is a prosperous part of the constituency. I noticed there was a railway connection to Merseyside and Manchester, so this was obviously a pleasant place to live. Once upon a time Labour would not have canvassed such areas, assuming them to be Conservative, and concentrated on council estates instead. The area which seemed least “left behind” was also where the biggest vote for Andy Burnham turned out. This was an exceptional election, but I do think Labour must avoid becoming a party for the public-spirited middle class, supporting the Welfare State, but often containing people with good jobs within it. They have to welcome the “left behind” as well. Otherwise, Farage will move in with a nasty anti-immigrant politics.
Makerfield is 97% white, and as I observed not obviously “left behind”. The issues of blaming immigrants for housing shortages or decline did not arise. It also had a candidate with a well-known personality who did not need a party label. This situation may not repeat itself elsewhere, and other elections may not be of such national significance. I do not think the answer necessarily lies in changing the leadership. It lies in being effective and getting things done. If this means changing the leader so be it.
Getting things done
There are not really big policy differences between current aspirants for the leadership. It is more about actual delivery. I will give an example. Margaret Thatcher privatised the water industry in the perhaps naïve belief that the private sector could produce the funds to modernise it. That did not happen. Instead, private investors creamed off the profits and left the infrastructure to decay. The present situation with Thames Water shows the result. Many want the industry renationalised, but this would cost a fortune buying out the present owners. It is not like the situation after the Second World War when the state had to nationalise industries liken the railways to prevent them collapsing altogether. Andy Burnham has not bought out the Manchester bus companies. Instead, he has brought the system under public control, with private companies obliged to submit tenders and follow specifications set by the mayoralty. This model could be used for water companies, as well as the electricity and gas utilities without the massive expense of purchasing them ,requiring them to conform to tenders set by local or national government. Here is an example of a policy that everyone in the Labour Party would agree about. The issue would be actually doing it.
Andy and Makerfield have seen off the threat of Reform. Now Labour has to actually deliver if it is to keep the trust of the British public.
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