Rebuilding the progressive left is not just about the Labour leadership. A group of UK-based progressives have started a research project to look at opportunities for new organisations.
Rebuilding the progressive left is not just about the Labour leadership. Indeed, it’s about much more than the Labour party.
So a few months ago a small group of primarily UK-based progressives including Labour List’s Alex Smith and Open Left’s Anthony Painter got together to initiate a conversation about the types of campaigns, institutions, blogs and tools that would help the broad, plural left to renew. The group included community organisers, environmentalists, campaigners, Labour and Lib Dem activists, bloggers, writers, and development workers.
In starting this process, there’s an obvious case study from across the Atlantic. The lesser told story about the Democrats’ success in the 2006 midterm elections and 2008 presidential race doesn’t even have the word ‘Obama’ in the headline. From 2004 onwards, a process of institution building took place across the American left to reclaim from the right an advantage in policy formation, political communication, movement development, and voter engagement lost during the ascendancy of US conservatives over three decades.
Much of what they created is already in place in the UK but a few of us have now undertaken a piece of research to look systematically at what happened in the US to create the infrastructure that supports a new form of politics, and what opportunities may exist in the UK. We are now able to employ a researcher to take forward this body of work.
The ‘Latimer Project’ as it’s become known has started advertising for a researcher to carry out a four-month project. We are looking to kick things off in the next few weeks so anyone interested should submit an application.
23 Responses to “Rebuilding the progressive left”
Anon E Mouse
Oxford Kevin – The coalition government has done more for the “Green” cause by simply scrapping the third runway at Heathrow practically overnight. Why are you interested in Labour? They can hardly be described as progressive. Don’t back the wrong horse.
Until the Labour Party gets rid of the dogmatic tribal authoritarian members from both the PLP and the members they will remain in opposition. Can anyone with half an ounce of sense imagine someone voting for Ed Balls to be PM?
That’s about as believable as thinking the public would ever have elected someone as incompetent as Gordon Brown.
What Labour needs to do is move on and start being honest. It is a party looking for a core vote and it just needs to appeal. Get Alistair Campbell, Peter Mandelson, John Prescot, Tony McNaulty, Derek Draper, Charlie Wheelen, Caroline Flint, Liam Byrne and all those other types, from the grass roots, bloggers, unions and throw them out of the Labour Party.
Across the board; if you can’t behave in an honest manner then you’re not welcome in the party. Out. Gone. Good riddance.
Forget the funds you’ll lose – it is better to be in government than opposition and as long as the party is inhabited by these types of people that is all that will be available…
Rupert Read
Good post. But I agree with Tracey J. If we get AV, then the Green Party for one is going to be primed to start to move to take Labour’s place, if Labour stays wedded to the hollowed-out disaster of New Labour, which all 3 of the main Labour Leadership candidates were prime movers in.
Anon E Mouse
Rupert Read – Whilst I do not for one minute doubt your sincerity as a Green Party member, I do think that you have a way to go to “start to take Labour’s place” – a mountain the size of Everest I would suggest.
I also think that once the coalition is dissolved at the next election, the Liberals will be able to (rightly) claim that they have been in government and not one that left the country in the state it currently is and helped clearing up Labour’s mess.
I personally think Labour will be squeezed next time and the Greens need to align more with the Liberals than the busted flush that is the Labour Party.
tracy j
the main problem for the green party is that they are socialist and we have seen what 13 years of socialist dogma, command and control, centralisation does. i used to go door knocking for the greens but finally realised they were not an environmental party but a bunch of ‘real labour’ with a bit of greenery at the edges. if you have ever read any of the ‘you cant have environmental justice without social justice’ bilge they tend to bleat on about you’ll know what i mean.
the greens will always be a minor protest vote party.
Anon E Mouse
tracy j – Although I seem to agree with the majority of your posts on this blog and I do not for a minute suggest that you are incorrect to call the Greens socialist I do not believe that New Labour were socialists.
I went off the Greens because of their political agenda at the same time I went off Greenpeace who seem to spend more time bleating about the environment instead of saving whales.
The Greens will always be a minor protest vote party and if you head onto Rupert Read’s blog it is easy to see why it is unlikely that position will change any time in the near future…