Pat McFadden presents his memo on the task facing Labour’s new general election coordinator
The general election is, at most, just 19 months away. The long campaign is already under way. The battle will only intensify the closer we get to polling day.
So what kind of task faces Labour’s new general election coordinator? It is a huge one, requiring clear thinking, dedication, leadership and discipline. It involves a mixture of message delivery, strategy development and implementation, resource prioritisation and flexibility.
Above all you have to plan and prepare. This sounds obvious but it is easier said than done. It requires painstaking work, going over again and again the key issues and never dodging the difficult questions, no matter how tempting that may be. You cannot drift into a campaign. You have to enter it in an organised, professional and planned way.
Some of the questions to be addressed will include: what is our message; how are we going to use the party leader to make the most of his abilities and beliefs; how do we set the agenda rather than have our opponents do it for us; how will our opponents attack us and what might we do to blunt those attacks; what is our key argument as to why the government does not deserve five more years; how do we use our staff; how do we use our money? All of these questions, and many more, have to be worked through thoroughly so that in each case we are in the best possible position.
Let us consider some of this in more detail.
First, the most important thing in any election is the message: ‘We are asking you to vote Labour because …’ This time around, much of that will revolve around the economic battle. Recent history in the UK comprises the financial crisis followed by the battle for recovery and the arguments over austerity. Winning the argument over who is best for Britain’s economic future will be central to winning the election.
A clear message requires discipline. It cannot be too thinly spread or be about appealing to internal constituencies. Responsibility for deciding the message cannot rest solely with the general election coordinator, though they should of course have an input. Most of the message will be developed by the party leader, with key input from others and the polling operation. But once decided it is the general election coordinator’s job to make sure the message runs through everything – every party political broadcast, leaflet and key speech. The public have to know what you stand for and why they should vote for you. There has to be a clear overriding message as to why Labour offers the best future for Britain.
Second, the party leader is, of course, the most important person in any campaign. They are the face and voice of the campaign. But the general election coordinator plays a key leadership role too. That role is to forge a team, often among competing personalities with strongly held views about how things will work and what should be done or not done. A good coordinator will build a strong sense of esprit de corps, making sure that everyone, no matter what their task, feels part of the team. The general election coordinator has to develop a culture which does not accept second best or ‘good enough’ yet which also avoids the kind of blame culture which can poison a campaign. This is all much easier if everyone is signed up to the same goals. Successes should be shared. And when things go wrong people should not be thrown to the wolves. In a winning campaign, we really are in it together.
Third, like it or not, elections cost money. Money is not everything and it is possible to win against the financial odds. But without money, winning is harder. Although the general election coordinator should not be expected to raise all the money, they have a critical role to play in deciding how the pot, whatever size it is, will be divided.
How should money be spent in an election? What proportion should we have for staff in key seats, whether they are called organisers, community organisers or anything else? How much for direct mail? How much for polling? What about bought media, be it billboards, internet ads or newspaper ads? What should be the balance of effort between new media and old? All of these things are choices. Ideally you might want to spend on all of them in a big way but even in the best-financed campaign doing some of one thing means doing less of another. The election coordinator has to understand this, think it through and make the key decisions about how scarce resources are to be used.
Fourth, a great danger in elections is fighting them through the rear-view mirror. Every campaign teaches us something. Sometimes a losing one can teach us more than a victorious one. Most campaigns are different from the last. This time, for example, we have greater, though not total, certainty about the date of the election. We also have a coalition government which will create a different dynamic around the government’s record.
In 2010 I was struck by how much the leaders’ TV debates created a rhythm to the campaign, or at least pushed aside the rhythm of press conferences and ‘issues of the day’ from previous campaigns. The short campaign of that election was pretty much a build-up to a TV debate, the debate itself, followed by analysis of the debate, then the build-up to the next debate, and so on.
Thinking through in advance how the debates will impact the campaign this time and how to work the rest of the campaign around them is a key challenge for next time.
Then there is what seems the perennial question of whether this really will be the first internet election. Certainly the influence of social media is increasing. Understanding it and using it is a very important element in modern election campaigns. The general election coordinator must make sure it is a key part of the planning but not be seduced into thinking it is everything. The traditional media and traditional communications are still hugely influential and winning the battle there is critical to winning an election. What else will be different this time around? What issues will have greater salience than in 2010 or 2005? It is the next war we have to win, not the last one.
Fifth, every campaign throws up the unexpected: John Prescott punching a voter; Sharon Storey shouting at Tony Blair; Gordon Brown calling Mrs Duffy a bigoted woman. Campaigns have to be able to handle these moments and not be derailed by them. Usually they are not fatal (though the Mrs Duffy incident was the most damaging in recent years) but, if not handled properly, they can absorb a lot of energy and turn a campaign inward in terms of recriminations. The key is the teamwork and leadership referred to above. If everyone feels part of the campaign, if they feel the coordinator is on their side and leading from the front, these moments can be survived.
Finally, it is always worth remembering what this is about. Elections are a battle for the future shape of the country. At heart they are not about the daily headline battle but about who has the best answers to the country’s problems and the most compelling vision of the future. At a time when the country’s confidence has been hit by the economic crisis, when people are more wary of globalisation and global engagement than before, and where there is a danger that Britain will turn in on itself, there is an urgent need for a political force that is open and confident about the future, outward-looking about our place in the world and passionate that the future be shaped in a way that spreads opportunity to as many as possible. That force should always be Labour and that stance is in our best traditions.
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Pat McFadden MP was political secretary to Tony Blair
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