Reconnecting with working class communities is seen as a vital part of Labour’s post-election debate. That said, leadership contender Andy Burnham was right to suggest that it was not the case that we had not delivered for heartland communities. Opening this discussion at the Progress conference Burnham reflected on the last 13 years as being the foundation for our political recovery and not something to be denied or disowned.
Social housing was mentioned as a common doorstep issue where the Labour government could have done more. Constituency rep on the NEC Ellie Reeves made the case for a wider programme of social housing building – work started by John Healey but something we should have done more of and sooner.
The way we organise on the ground will be a crucial part of any solution aimed to win back hearts and minds in working class communities. The right policy and message are only half the solution, we need to recognise where our grassroots organising has worked and led to trend-bucking results.
Margaret Hodge set out the approach used in Barking to crush the BNP and double her majority. Good organising on the ground, with a genuine drive to reach out and a real commitment to listen to what communities are saying.
This debate will go on. Today’s discussion sets out some key themes: the need to have an honest discussion where we properly listen to peoples’ insecurities about the economy, jobs and their communities and where we build a grassroots organisation to do this in communities up and down the country.
‘Core lessons: Can Labour reconnect with working-class communities?’
PROGRESS CONFERENCE 2010
Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP
Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP
Ellie Reeves, Labour National Executive Committee
Chaired by John Biggs, Greater London Assembly Member
How many working class people on minimum wage could have afforded to attend the Progress day conference?????
Your now New labour stick with it, after 40 odd years of voting labour, I think I’ve learned a lesson, socialism died a long time ago, New labour fought the Tories for conservatism lost, now live with it.
I’m of course a work shy disabled cripple remember us, the work shy scroungers.
you can stick it.
The BNP are far from crushed in Barking & Dagenham, they polled 31,000 votes and their share of the vote at the GE was up across Britain, the second highest increase behind the Conservatives.More than 10,000 enquiries to join the BNP during the campaigning have been received. It seems there will be a gradual increase across Britain year on year and there is the likelihood of voters backing the BNP en masse.
@Mike
This is one thing Andy Burnham addressed. He mentioned that party membership is too expensive at £39 so I would imagine his view that membership costs need to be lower should spread to events such as party conference and conferences of organisations such as Progress and The Fabian Society.
@Dave
Their representation has been crushed. They had 12 council seats and now hold none. With this, their warped views will get less air-time in council meetings, local media and national media. Nobody is saying we should be complacent and not still combat their views, but they have been crushed.
I though Margaret Hodge can teach us all about our campaigning throughout the country. Preliminary findings show we lost around 11% of C2 voters and 8% of DE voters. Also, we lost 8% of social housing tenant voters. These are people that the Labour Party should always be representing and Margaret Hodge’s lessons about reconnecting with those who we traditionally seek to represent should be listened to by everyone.
What has New labour delivered, it has made the Tories look like a real political party, it has more then likely put new labour out of politics for a generations or more, if the Tories and Liberals work together well, it might well move the Liberals into second place.
I cannot for the life of me see why any working class voter would vote for Burnham, he loved the third way, which is basically a Thatcherite way, which has failed.
Who cares lets hope the Tories can pull this country out of the mess we are in now.
This whole article is code language for ‘bash the immigrants and the working class will like us’.
Not one of you would recognise a working class person if you fell over one.
You ruled on behalf of corporations, bankers and billionaires, and now wonder why the working class is heartily sick of you.
It’s nothing to do with immigrants, and everything to do with widening class divisions and the disconnection of a once great party from the class that gave it birth.
I attended this session at the Progress conference and I can only say that I was absolutely horrified by Margaret Hodge’s and Andy Burnham’s remarks. We should be no more be concerned about east Europeans taking our council houses and jobs and eating our swans than we should be concerned about a Martian invasion. We have passed laws to make sure that it is almost impossible east European migrants to get into council housing – they live in the private rented sector. Also, between 40% and 60% of those in social housing don’t want to live in social housing. Rather than pandering to myths we should stand by our principles and say clearly what the facts are. Pandering to racism takes us neatly to facsist Germany.