The cause of Labour’s general election defeat is no great mystery. It wasn’t down to the ridicule that followed cringeworthy PR stunts like their The Thick Of It-esque gaffe, carved into a two tonne solid stone plinth. Nor was it down to the much prophesied ‘political earthquake’ that Nigel Farage had foretold. It wasn’t even down to their leader being, apparently, ‘a bit weird’. They lost simply because – through an incoherent policy platform – they failed to offer a palatable alternative to the Conservatives’ austerity plans. The party just didn’t do enough to counter the Tories’ rhetoric of “Labour wrecked the economy” and failed to adequately inspire the electorate that they were the answer to the country’s problems. There was a demand for a different approach, but Labour just weren’t offering it.
The fallout from the election was near-catastrophic. Labour MPs were driven to near extinction in Scotland by the SNP, with key party figures losing their seats. Despite early polls indicating they would push the Conservatives into another coalition, they also lost key battles in target seats. On a truly miserable night for the party, strategists and supporters alike were left licking their wounds and scratching their heads, wondering where to begin with the mammoth task of rebuilding the party. Overnight, the party appeared to go from looking like a very real challenger for Number 10 to utter disarray; leaderless and, it seemed, without direction.
Still, for the few who had managed to remain optimistic, the leadership vacancy provided a quiet sense of opportunity; perhaps a new face and a new ethos would be able steady the sinking ship. The backdrop of five further years of a Conservative majority could invigorate the party and allow Labour to redefine itself into the election winning machine it once was. It was a long shot, but maybe in the long run, defeat could be a blessing dressed as a curse.
This should have been a gauntlet for the Labour Party, a chance to decide its own destiny. But before a single ballot for the party leadership has even been cast, all but 48 of the party’s MPs seem to have already decided on a course overnight with a single vote in the Commons. Unfortunately, that course was plummeting downhill.
Last night, Labour cowered in the face of the opportunity that stood before them. At the second reading of the Conservatives’ Welfare Reform and Work Bill, a plan which proposes further deep cuts to the welfare budget, acting leader Harriet Harman instructed her fellow Labour MPs to abstain from the vote. Despite all the rhetoric the party spouted throughout the campaign about standing up for ordinary people, Labour bottled it and sanctioned a bill that undermined the very principles on which the party was built.
This couldn’t have happened at a worse time. On the surface, it would appear that, with a few exceptions, every Labour MP has accepted a 10% pay rise, only to then stand aside and passively condoned further hardship for working class families. Not only that, but in doing so, they have conceded their right to the claim of representing working people. This will only serve as ammunition to Labour’s critics. Nicola Sturgeon will be rubbing her hands in delight as they come unravelled, all too aware that this move will give credence to the ‘Tory Lite’ caricature she painted of the party during the campaign. More worryingly, among the electorate, it’s now increasingly difficult to argue with a growing consensus that this Labour opposition is simply a gang of gravy-train riding Tories in red ties.
In fact, there are arguably only 48 Labour MPs who can really lay claim to calling themselves ‘opposition’. Only they demonstrated enough commitment to their principles to defy the whip and make a stand. It’s quite telling that one of those MPs is leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn. Yet he has been widely discredited by the party establishment, written off as a radical lefty dinosaur. The reason? Labour’s efforts are focused on making up some of the centre ground that they lost to the Conservatives. It makes little sense when you consider that they are essentially overlooking 63% of the electorate who didn’t vote Conservative in favour of the 37% who did. Nonetheless, Corbyn suffers for his refusal to act as poster boy for the increasingly centrist party that Labour has regressed to. Ironically, he could be exactly what they’re looking for.
Labour can’t see the wood for the trees. Their exact problem is their own indifference. They’re in a post-election slump, shying away from the fight. In reality, if they’re to ever look electable again, they need to make an impassioned effort to take the fight to the Conservatives and make a stand for those people across the country who are increasingly powerless in the face of further austerity. Instead, around 80% of the party’s MP’s are apparently content with the notion of simply homogenising with the very people they are supposed to be holding to account. In offering no real opposition to this bill, they’re reading from the Tories’ script when they needed to be penning a contradictory narrative. This was little more than a political shrug of the shoulders, when they should have been clenching their fists. You’ve got to feel that they will have to pay a price.
It’s not even as if the Labour Party is divided. Instead, it seems to be experiencing a serious identity crisis, wandering aimlessly through a political wilderness with no bearing of who or what it represents any more. Despite that, it doesn’t seem to be demonstrating any real desire to find itself. The outlook may be bleak but five years is a long time in politics. Who knows? They may yet come up with the goods. If they want to appear in any way a legitimate alternative to the Conservatives, they have little choice but to do so. At present, though, it seems that Labour is content with pouring soil over its own head.
Words by Thomas Johnston