I graduated from being a long-serving local government officer into a political activist because I saw the damage being done to this country by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition after 2010. However, I was also motivated by the fact that the party had no counter-narrative to the attacks on our record in government or an ability to effectively oppose the 2010-2015 government.

I was selected as a council candidate for Harrow-Edgware. A seat created in 2002 that had always been Labour until a Labour councillor led a rebellion of eight councillors and formed an Independent group. My job, along with my two colleagues, all freshers, was to hold the two Labour seats and win back the Independent seat. We achieved that objective and helped to form a third Labour majority administration for Harrow.

In between my selection in July 2013 and my election in May 2014 I went on a steep learning curve from what I found out from the grassroots in the ward I hoped to represent. I found that the Indian community, especially the Gujerati Indians were angry with Labour over fly-tipping on the streets, and immigration. That community voted in large numbers for Bob Blackman in 2015 and for Zac Goldsmith in 2016.

Second, despite a narrative within parts of the party that any highlighting of the issues around immigration was racist, I found that the large numbers of European Union migrants moving into my ward were causing pressures and problems especially in the face of austerity cuts. I was not surprised that my ward voted to leave (based on analysis of the election boxes at the count). It was obvious to me.

My deduction was that progressive politics was and is in trouble and we needed a new narrative that connected with the streets and showed that we are prepared to listen and change even when the message is uncomfortable.

I believe the future of the party lies in building on our local government base and demonstrating that Labour politics actually delivers. We need to speak nationally, as a movement, that the basic street issues that concern ordinary residents are the foundation of our national politics.

I have five key policy suggestions:

1. Develop a local government funding settlement that is demonstrably fair and propose to take it away from the Treasury. That is a radical first step in line with giving independence to the Bank of England
2. Commit to a clean streets campaign for our urban areas and encourage the development of cleaning social enterprise in areas of high unemployment
3. Scrap the nationalisation of planning and restore powers to regional mayors and local planning authorities where there are no regional authorities. Ensure funding is steered as much to enforcement as to development
4. Remodel the laws around the management of private rented housing that gives the right for affected communities to complain about bad management as well as affected tenants
5. Scrap first past the post as an out-dated anachronism in local government elections and plan for a constitutional settlement of the rights and responsibilities of local government

My plan will give local authorities the power and the confidence to plan and deliver for their communities. We need a Labour government, not a centralising one, but one that believes in our communities and understands that differences between them are not always a problem, but can be a way forward and a source of strength and ideas.

———————————

Barry Kendler is a candidate in the councillors’ section in the Progress strategy board elections. He tweets at @BKendler

———————————