The idea of creating an organisation to support constituencies where Labour had consistently come third was first discussed during the lead-up to the 1992 general election by a group of prospective parliamentary candidates in the Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire borders. In 2011 this will be relaunched at the House of Commons on 18 January.

Then, it soon became clear after being selected, myself in East Berkshire and candidates in neighbouring constituencies, that we were about to embark on an election campaign that was far removed from the high-profile battles covered by the national media in the key marginals. As a result we formed a cluster group of PPCs where CLPs and candidates worked together on joint campaigns, shared visits from frontbench spokespersons and showed a united front to the local press and radio. Between us we put Labour back on the local political agenda and, as a team, put the Labour case forward and connected with the electorate.

The outcome of this cross-constituency boundary working was above-average support for Labour in our area. In East Berkshire my vote increased from 9,287 to 14,458 and came within 800 votes of pushing the Liberal Democrats into third place. It had, however, become apparent to our group that for Labour to win the next general election, and claim to be a truly national party, we had to build a strong local government base in the south of England. That’s why Third Place First was formed with the objective of increasing the number of Labour councillors in the south.

We established a team of activists who went out and spoke to CLPs across the region. We advised on:
– How to run a campaign on minimal resources eg £20 and three volunteers;
– How to produce inexpensive but good-quality newsletters;
– Why every seat must be fought;
– Having the confidence to stand for Labour wherever you lived;
– Showing that Labour can make a difference, even if you are the only Labour councillor.

In February 1994, Third Place First held its inaugural conference where MPs and leading councillors spoke to over 100 party members from across the south-east and south-west. Third Place First was becoming known nationally and the event was covered by Andrew Rawnsley and Channel 4’s A Week in Politics.

A few weeks later in the May local elections, Labour gained hundreds of seats across the country, including many in the south and some from third place with swings to Labour of over 20 per cent. In June 1994, the party won a record number of European seats, again coming from third place to win.

A Third Place First summer school was held and we continued to train and encourage CLPs to campaign and work to maximise the Labour vote in their local area. Third Place First had now become an established network in the party. This was acknowledged by the national party leadership when we were asked to support John Prescott’s Operation Toehold project, the scheme to secure at least one Labour councillor on every council in the country.

Operation Toehold, with the support of Third Place First, was a great success. In May 1995, Labour made further gains across the country, with dozens of local authorities seeing Labour representation for the first time in years. With the experience gained from Third Place First and Operation Toehold, the party was able to develop into a confident first-rate national election machine which resulted in further local election successes in 1996.

The combination of the key seat strategy, and the ability of CLPs and PPCs to turn local council election victories into national votes, resulted in 1997’s landslide victory for Labour. With the party winning in such places as St Albans (+17 percentage point increase in the Labour vote); Hove
(+20 percentage points); and Hastings (+19 percentage points), Third Place First and other networks played a critical role in creating a Labour party which was, for the first time in a generation, the natural party of government.

Why was this achieved between the 1992 and 1997 elections but not 1983 and 1987?

One major factor was that, under Neil Kinnock’s leadership, despite not winning in 1992, Labour had started to change the minds of middle England voters about the party. Kinnock’s Labour had started to win parliamentary by-elections and local council seats and was beginning to look like a national political party that could win a future general election.

With Neil Kinnock stepping down after his second defeat, Labour’s standing was even further strengthened in middle England with John Smith and, later, Tony Blair as leader.

At the 1983 general election Labour had shrunk back to its historical industrial heartlands, with the party falling off the local political agendas in many district and shire councils. In the following four years, Labour did have moderate success in local elections but there were still large chunks of every region without Labour representation. Therefore, in these areas, PPCs selected for the 1987 and 1992 general elections found it difficult to raise both their own and their local CLPs’ profile.

That is why Third Place First and Operation Toehold made such an impact between 1992 and 1997. As Labour developed its local government base, the electorate experienced the difference local Labour councillors could make. Voters got into the habit of voting Labour in every election and stayed with the party until after the 2001 election.

So after our most recent general election defeat it is clear that it is time to relaunch Third Place First.

Nationally, Labour is back to its 1992 position. In the south-east, Labour has only four MPs and there are 31 local authorities without any Labour councillors. There is a similar, if not worse, position in the south-west and eastern regions.

Joan Ryan’s Hidden Landslide article in the October edition of Progress showed how, in seats held by Labour as recently as 2005, we now lag far behind, polling third in some instances. In 2010 itself, we fell straight from first to third place in Watford and Bristol North West. But to accept these seats as electoral no-go areas for Labour would rule us out of power with workable majority for the foreseeable future.

Politics is, however, different now with the first coalition government in place for many decades. Labour cannot just sit back and wait for the coalition to break up and return to power by default. Unlike 1992, the party is not in the ascendency and our vote has dropped in every national election since 1997. Labour will have to work hard for victory.

Luke Akehurst was right to call for a 633-seat strategy in the September edition of Progress. But for Labour to return to power at the next general election, the party must not only win the battle of ideas and have the best policies to enable Labour to reconnect with the electorate. It must also have the knowledge, ability, organisational skills and, above all, the confidence, will, belief and desire to win beyond our core areas.

For Ed Miliband’s party to regain power it must prove to the electorate that it is a truly national party and not just a party of the cities and industrial heartlands. It must:

– Ensure the party functions in every CLP;
– Rebuild its local government base;
– Fight every council seat and by-election;
– Win the battle of community politics to become the natural party to represent every neighbourhood;
– Campaign all year round – not just at election time;
– Show evidence that Labour can and does make a difference;
– Win seats from third place in seats such as Cambridge, Hemel Hempstead, Bristol North West, Watford, Castle Point, Reading East, St Albans, Wimbledon, North West Norfolk, Wyre Forest, Shrewsbury and Atcham and Leeds North West.

A relaunched Third Place First, working with CLPs across the country and proving there are no ‘no-go areas for Labour’, can help deliver the next Labour victory. Let’s get started.