‘Historic’ is an overused word, but it wasn’t until a couple of days after June 7th that the election’s ‘historic’ significance actually struck me. I was back in Paisley speaking with an elderly member of the local party. She explained to me that her first memories of standing in the Labour committee rooms on election day was as a young girl – in 1924! That day, Labour won government for the first time. Ever since then she had waited to see Labour secure two full terms with a working majority.
That goal has now been secured. Not only have we been returned to office, but the scale of our majority – 167 – provides a very real challenge for the Conservatives to overturn in the coming parliament. For all the consistency of our opinion poll lead, victory – victory on this scale – was anything but a foregone conclusion. Those of us who remember election night in 1992, never mind 1987 or 1983, were never likely to succumb to such complacency about a Labour victory. Even amongst those who anticipated victory, there were few who anticipated a majority broadly similar
to our best ever result. Yet, in the event, in constituency after constituency,
voters affirmed the choice they had made in 1997.
So how was the victory secured and what lessons does it hold for us as we move forward? At a fundamental level, every campaign tests the strength both of a party’s organisation and of its ideas.
Our first challenge, in terms of organisation, was to recognise that we were not simply ‘refighting the last war’. For the first time in a generation, Labour was fighting as an incumbent, rather than as a party of opposition. Consequently, the structure of our campaign had to reflect this reality, ensuring the work of the party reflected and supported the work of the Labour government.
We were also determined to continue the evolution of modern campaigning that had seen terms like ‘war room’ and ‘rebuttal’ become synonymous with Millbank in 1997. The ‘key seats’ strategy of four years ago was developed into ‘Operation Turnout’ to affirm our determination to defend our 146 gains, while working to add further Labour seats. As a result, we developed not only a new ‘academy’ of organisers, but also new Labour Contact software (to update ELPAC) and a range of well researched and customised publicity materials, ranging from leaflets to videos. In addition, we also introduced a national telephone bank that strengthened significantly our capacity to contact voters in strategic seats.
In the run-up to polling day Labour was, as a result, making more calls in a day than the Conservatives were claiming to make in a week from their volunteer phone bank at Central Office. By the final weeks of the campaign there were also five Labour posters to every one Tory poster across the country. This advantage reflected our capacity to ‘upweight’ our poster coverage in line with our strategic objectives and timetable. These efforts from Party HQ, coupled with the tireless work of Labour Party members, week in week out, up and down the country, were vital to victory in a wide number of seats
Yet while we undoubtedly out organised our opponents, elections are not won by organisation above. Indeed, ultimately we secured not just a victory, but a mandate for our values and policies on issues as diverse as tackling child and pensioner poverty, securing work and making work pay. We decisively won the argument with the centre-right about the future direction of the country. The central dividing lines between ourselves and our opponents not only dominated the campaign, but over time framed the terms of public discourse in ways that strengthened Labour’s position.
First and foremost was the contrast between the stability and steady growth delivered by the first term Labour government and the threat posed by a return to the Tory economics that had brought two recessions in as many decades. Our strength on this economic agenda, allied to the incoherence of the Tories’ present economic policy, meant that as these issues were discussed in the first week, Labour sustained significant leads
on issues of economic management
and taxation.
During the later stages of the campaign, the focus moved to public services. Here, our agenda for both reform and resources for schools and hospitals found widespread support. By contrast,
the Conservatives’ commitment to first £16 billion, and then £20 billion, of cuts, merely confirmed the voters’ view of them as badly out of touch with most people’s concerns. The overwhelming rejection of the Tories’ approach revealed just how
far the British people have travelled
from the era of Thatcherism that too
long dominated debate.
So our victory brought with it opportunities, but also a heavy responsibility. The future direction of our country will be determined by the private decisions of countless individuals and the public choices that we, as a society, will make.
It is a time of immense possibility.
To forge a new progressive concensus and, thereby, sustain centre-left governance is a goal that eluded many of our forebearers. Now, thanks to our victory of June 7th, the opportunity and the responsibility is ours.
