The late Roy Jenkins once opined that the mark of a steadfast prime minister was to take a poor set of local elections on the chin and not to let results influence national decisions.
In many ways this is the worst piece of political advice I have ever read.
Charitably I would say that perhaps this was true in the 1970s with a single set of poor local election results – but it is certainly not the case in this decade after Labour has been subjected to a series of annual hammerings at the local polls.
The long-term prospects for Labour without a vibrant local government base should frighten tacticians. A key reason for the delayed revival of the Conservative party during the 1990s can be attributed to the successive slaughter of its local government base, year on year from 1993-1996. Indeed, it dealt the Tories such a fundamental blow in the north of England that even now, well over a decade later, it is difficult to see signs of a truly meaningful recovery in these areas.
So who becomes the voice for our local councillors is a key issue for our party.
Thursday 14 January saw the first in a series of hustings for a potentially important role shaping the future of the Labour party, the role of leader of the Labour group on the Local Government Association. Wakefield MDC leader Peter Box, Salford city council leader John Merry and David Sparks, leader of the opposition Labour group at Dudley MBC, have all put themselves forward to succeed long-serving Sir Jeremy Beecham who recently announced his intention to stand down.
All three candidates are experienced, competent members – of that there is no doubt.
Yet almost unspoken in the London hustings were references to our serious people challenges facing Labour’s local government base over the coming years – something that is central to the party’s revival in many parts of the country.
With successive defeats, especially in the last three years, we have lost many long-serving and experienced councillors – many of whom now have even disengaged from their local parties for want of engagement by the party after losing elections.
Unless we act swiftly to reconnect with this lost cohort of people who (let’s remember) stood for election to make a difference to their communities, Labour will lose people with real grassroots trust and authority. Renewal – which we must constantly do – surely cannot be achieved without a serious effort to re-engage this important part of the party.
The party surely must not repeat the defeatist mistake of the Conservatives in the 1990s and hunker down in Westminster, neglecting our existing (and former) local government base. It’s an obvious point but it’s worth making repeatedly because Labour’s local government voice hasn’t necessarily been heard as loudly as it should have been for a number of years.