Lee and Stanley examine the political strategy of ‘triangulation’, arguing it both alienates the public from politics and promotes policies which are fragmenting society. Their theory that this battle for the centre ground of public opinion by political parties restricts the policy choices both left and right advance is well argued; yet to claim this is also responsible for disengagement from the public realm is overstated.
Activism within all parties was declining long before the rise of New Labour, as was public participation in elections. Today’s Britons seek not ‘real’ Labour or ‘real’ Tories to inspire them back to the ballot box, but instead question the role of politics in their lives and find it wanting. Indeed, many are now turning to non-partisan forms of consumer-based activism to express their viewpoints. This poses a different challenge to a world in which the public value politics, if not the perspectives put forward by political parties.
Upholding Labour as the vehicle by which we both campaign for, and enact, social justice requires us to make the case that politics matters to a nation which increasingly prefers popstars rather than politicians as the trusted bearers of progressive hopes. Lee and Stanley are right to argue communitarian, punitive policies do nothing to promote social cohesion, but short sighted to view these as the sole cause of voter disengagement. Consequently, they underestimate the many difficulties facing the left in reconnecting our party with the public we seek to serve.