Politics is changing fast and the way Labour thinks, organises, and campaigns has to change too. Seismic shifts in the structure and culture of civil society are placing huge pressures on traditional democratic politics. We have a system of local politics that is struggling to keep pace with modern aspirations and demands. It’s like trying to make microchips using a steam engine.
Politics-as-usual is under strain as never before. The long-term trends of low turnouts in elections, falling party memberships, and the collapse of automatic loyalty to one party have all been exacerbated in recent months.
So, does this mean that people are not interested in politics? Anyone who knocks on doors, attends street stalls and runs surgeries knows that the answer is no. But many people feel that traditional politics is not the answer. A new generation of activists is being born, and new forms of local politics are emerging.
The political scientist Pippa Norris points to three shifts in activism in recent years. First, the agencies of activism are changing. This means activists do not always join traditional political parties, but instead create new spontaneous groups, fluid campaigns and networks. Recent examples include anti-gun campaigns such as Mothers Against Violence and Not Another Drop.
Second, the repertoires are changing, meaning that activism today is as much about new kinds of activity such as the internet as it is about traditional forms like leafleting and public meetings. Third, the targets of politics are changing. Thirty years ago activists were largely concerned with the town hall and local bosses. Today, multinational companies are the targets as much as municipal leaderships.
New-style activism broadly covers three types: the first is the person working within the new structures established by Labour’s programmes of devolution and constitutional reform. This might include the members of the London assembly, the Welsh assembly or Scottish parliament; the directly-elected mayors in many cities and boroughs; the board members of New Deal for Communities schemes; and, in the near future, board members of foundation hospital trusts, regional assembly members, and so on.
The second type is the social entrepreneur: people who have decided to change their worlds in innovative and dynamic new ways, by creating social businesses, co-ops and mutuals. The third is the anti-globalisation protestor, the consumer boycotter, and the fair trade demonstrator. What these three groups have in common is a rejection of the town hall and Westminster as the only place to enact their politics. These new forms of social and political activism issue a direct challenge to the Labour party. So how should we respond?
We must support the people we already have. The start of the Labour academy, designed to train, educate and support Labour’s activists, is an important step. New political education courses will be made available. There’ll be advice on standing for the council. For the first time, all of Labour’s school governors will be given training and information.
Another radical idea is a registered supporters’ scheme. In Salford, we have been pioneering a system of Labour supporters, creating a bridge between our voters and our members, and increasing by several hundred the Labour ‘family’ in our city. Registered supporters can create a huge pool of potential support amongst those people who strongly share our values, but are reluctant to share our activities full-time. This is just one good idea contained in the new NEC document 21st century party –the next steps.
We also need to forge alliances with those social entrepreneurs and community activists who are already doing so much. These people are our natural allies and should find a welcome home inside the Labour party. Where there are elections and appointments for local bodies, we need to recruit and support people who share Labour’s values to stand as candidates. This is as true of ancient bodies like the council and the magistrates’ bench as it is of New Deal for Communities boards and foundation hospital trusts.
Unless there is a direct conflict of interest, as with the Countryside Alliance marchers, protest groups should be allowed to debate with local Labour parties, share perspectives, and see if there is common ground and shared values. We can be the party of government without becoming the party of the establishment.
If ‘new localism’ is to be anything more than the latest political buzz-phrase, it must mean passing real power to local communities. Local Labour parties should be the catalyst for greater decentralisation of power and ownership. Labour parties must become agents of radical change, not passive passers of resolutions and talking-shops. If people don’t see Labour as people who get things done, why will they join us?
We have a choice. We can scan the political horizon, see the changes that are coming, and retreat into the old safe ways of doing things – our Labour comfort zone. Or we can respond to the scale of the challenge with imagination, enthusiasm and vigour. The new politics requires new thinking, and new people to take the ideas forward. For Labour to prosper in the internet age, we need to re-invent activism.