Labour’s position in the polls is terrifying – but with popular policies and thousands of activists knocking on doors, there are votes to be had, writes Christabel Edwards
Most of us did not expect to be fighting another general election just yet. I confess, my reaction to the news was a loud sigh, and to inspect my much abused pair of Converse. The announcement came during our county council campaign, and another wholly unnecessary drubbing.
Is that any kind of a surprise? The electorate are fed up, and turnout was plumbing the depths. For those who are busy, a visit to the polling station for a council election went right to the bottom of the heap. However, the last few weeks of the #LabourDoorstep have left me with a sense of optimism for the campaign to come. There is plenty which is going in our favour if we care to look.
Yet all too often, in my Labour circle I find an atmosphere of resigned pessimism. I will be charitable though, and assume that like me, everyone else is suffering a dose of election fatigue. If not, shame on you! There is so much to fight for. So what are the positives?
We have a general election. For all of us political activists and poll watchers, this is the gold star event. It is what we live for. A chance to kick out the incumbent government, and replace it with one that actually cares about people. Our party has its internal differences for sure, and so it should. If the way we make the world a better place does not arouse strong passions, then you are probably in the wrong game.
Whatever some may think, there is not one of us who would not prefer to see Jeremy Corbyn on the steps of Downing Street on June 9, rather than another five years of Tory chaos and despair. And that is why Progress members in every constituency Labour party around the country will be giving our all for Labour, and our hundreds of brilliant candidates over the next few weeks. The council results were bad, and the polls right now look terrifying. I will make no bones about that, but we have popular policies and hundreds of thousands of activists out on the campaign trail. All this must be made to tell during the campaign.
There is quite a bit of complacency from the government too. There is that cocky assumption that United Kingdom Independence party voters will shift en-masse to the Tories now that they have got their Brexit. My experience on the doorstep is that plenty are coming back to us with the words ‘job done,’ this is not music to the ears of a die-hard Remaniac like myself, but extra Labour voters are not to be sniffed at wherever they come from. This, coupled with well organised pro-European tactical voting, could spring a few nasty surprises for Theresa May.
Playing the defensive game is an interesting strategy when taking on a government with a majority of 12, but one backed up by the council results. The need to protect our sitting members of parliament above all else could pay off, as the Tories limited activist base gets overstretched, and they watch their budgets carefully.
Lack of Tory activists is very apparent, and this was behind the busses full of Young Conservatives being deployed round the country in 2015. That scandal is yet to break fully, and if it is as drastic as the rumours suggest, both us and the Liberal Democrats could yet reap the benefit on polling day.
And this is the real note of optimism that we should take from the current situation. Whatever happens on June 8, the Tory desire to appeal only to older voters is coming home to roost for them. It is our party that has the membership base, the enthusiastic young activists and the cheerful, motivated doorstep teams. Tory policies from the eighties onwards have poisoned the well of support among Generation X and millennial voters, and these numbers will increasingly show through at the ballot box in the years to come. So be cheerful, and fight with all your passion and energy. There is votes to be had.
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Christabel Edwards is a Labour party activist. She tweets at @Christabel321
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Credit: Louisa Thomson