Where Did Labour Go So Wrong (Part 1)

Back in May 2010 the UK suffered something of a coup d'etat with the Monarchy installing a coalition government headed by the Conservative Party backed by the Liberal Democrat (LibDem) Party. The next act of the play was always going to be a re-installation of the Labour Party in 2015 in order to repair Britain's damaged relationship with the international community and the European Union (EU) in particular. That election has now been and gone and not only did the Labour Party fail to win an outright majority they actually succeeded in losing a total of 26 seats nationwide. Therefore it only seems reasonable to ask where Labour went so wrong?

Obviously some elements of their failure were beyond their control. For example with the LibDem's formally entering into coalition with the Conservatives there was no way to stop the Conservatives program of radical of social engineering becoming the law of the land. Although it was presented a necessary austerity needed to save the nation from economic calamity in reality the Conservatives' program had one purpose and one purpose only - to make British voters poorer. When people are made poor they become desperate to conserve what little they have left and will be swayed by even the smallest bribe such as reducing the tax on a pint of beer by a penny. This is always how the Conservative Party have operated and is certainly how they won their surprise victory in 1992  when they were able to offer just enough scraps to keep the voters happy. Now the Conservatives have won an outright majority this is likely to become an even bigger factor at the 2020 election.

Likewise it was not the Labour Party's fault that is was beyond David Cameron's ability to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the EU. However this and the momentum is gave to the UK Independence Party (UKIP) was entirely predictable.

That is not to say though that Labour did not make a lot of mistakes of their own and probably chief amongst these was the choice of Ed Miliband as leader. Although I don't want to launch into an attack on the man personally Ed Miliband just comes across as a bit odd. The UK public will apparently vote for liars, cheats, drunks, paedophiles, war criminals, manic depressives and many a sociopath. However they will not vote for people who come across as just a bit odd. So it didn't matter how effective a leader he was or how good his policies were Ed Miliband was always going to be an electoral hindrance to the Labour Party.

Labour's mistake in picking Ed Miliband was actually the result of the party making the mistake of thinking that they needed to pick the person who was going to lead them into the 2015 election. Instead they should have chosen what is known is cricket terms as a "Nightwatch Man." This person's role is to come in as darkness begins to fall and bat away the attacks until the new dawn arrives. A very strong candidate for this type of role would have been Alan Johnson who despite being from a slightly older generation is just a pretty normal working class bloke. Having him spend three years or so criticising Conservative cuts at things like the weekly Prime Minister's Question Time (PMQ's) would certainly have helped build affection for the Labour Party. After all despite the arrival of the second Royal Baby David Cameron and his Chancellor Gideon (George) Osborne remain slightly more posh then the Duchess of Cambridge.

A much stronger candidate for the role though would have been Ed Balls. Despite having degrees in economics from both the UK's prestigious Oxford university and the US' equally prestigious Harvard college which give him an understanding of the subject that neither Cameron nor Osborne could ever achieve Ed Ball's background is very much of the aspirational middle-class that make up much of the British electorate. He also has a very combative style meaning that I could see him landing blows against the Conservatives at PMQ's in a way that Ed Miliband's nasally whine never could.

I've always thought that over time Ed Balls would have been capable of developing a statesman-like demeanour that better suits a Prime Minister. However if that wasn't possible then a year or two prior to the election it would be time for him to step down and make way for David Miliband who as a former Foreign Secretary and currently a director of the New York based International Rescue is already very comfortable on the global stage. If Balls had been unable to out-compete the Conservatives in the public eye this switch could have been presented as the Labour Party responding to the concerns of the electorate. After all Balls is quite right - Labour's economic policy did not cause the global financial crash of 2008. However Gordon Brown's decision to treat it as an opportunity to nationalise most of Britain's banks most certainly did substantially damage the UK economy and I for one am still waiting for Labour to apologise.

I think what drove the Labour Party into making the mistake of choosing to ignore my advice was that they got dazzled by the 2014 local council elections. Due to years of privatisation and Margret Thatcher's inability to take criticism the power wielded by British local council's is next to non-existent. In fact I would almost go so far to say that if they were abolished overnight few in Britain would notice. This is reflected by the extremely low voter turnout that local council elections produce. However they are considered very important by party activists because local councillor to national MP is a well worn career path in UK politics and small victories can provide a boost to parties core supporters.

This desire to win at the local elections forced Labour to campaign and in the process lay out an alternative to the Conservatives' economic policy. Under the supervision of Ed Balls as shadow Chancellor the Labour Party succeeded in laying out a coherent and effective alternative economic plan. This plan was so well thought out that the Monarchy simply picked it up and gave it to Osborne to implement. Obviously with the Conservatives implementing Labour's economic policy it became impossible for Labour to criticise the policy in the run up to the election. 

Also the plan began reversing the damage done to the economy by the Conservatives economic plan producing a slight economic recovery just before the election. However because the plan was being presented as Osborne's own work voters seem to have made the mistake of giving the Conservatives rather then Labour the credit for the economic progress that has been made.

Part 2 is currently a work in progress and will follow eventually although it is now Eurovision week and the war against ISIL seems to require attention.

13:45 on 18/5/15 (UK date).