The right have differences of opinion too, but are much better at coming together when it matters
Post-election, we’ve seen the inevitable flurry of analysis from left-leaning political pundits, politicians and commentators about why the Labour Party drastically failed to win a majority.
What went wrong, why the party failed to engage voters, and vague suggestions of what to do about it, mainly centred on the need for reflection and new leadership.
Electing the right opposition leader to present a real challenge to the Tories is certainly a priority. But what of civil society?
The community groups, trade associations, charities, NGOs, social enterprises, think tanks, and individuals who don’t agree with Tory cuts that are increasing poverty in the UK, who marched against austerity last weekend to demand an alternative, who want to see a fairer society for all.
What are they doing to improve the chances of power being in the hands of a more progressive government? Unsurprisingly, there are lots of individuals and groups calling for change and action, as well as some actually doing something about it, but not in a joined up way. And herein lies the problem.
Journalist Sunny Hundal published a piece on Labour List last week called, ‘Why the left keeps crashing and burning, and what to do about it‘, claiming that activists on the left tend to lose momentum and let their campaigns fizzle out because of a lack of strategy and planning beyond protests, leading to in-fighting, poor timing and weak implementation.
Hundal makes three simple suggestions for what to do:
1. Build infrastructure and fundraise
2. Avoid clichéd and lazy messaging (a la UKIP) that alienates potential supporters
3. Get young people voting
All good suggestions. So how do we get there? When I tweeted Sunny to ask when he was organising an event or discussion to decide how to put his words into action, he half- jokingly suggested someone else should do the work. But who?
Though Twitter is alive with debate, I haven’t seen a show of hands to take this forward.
Beyond protests – which certainly have their value – we need someone to grab activists by the scruff of the neck, sit them down and facilitate a structured and clear conversation designed to generate a broad agreement on why the movement is failing, what can be done about it, who can do it, and how.
Many of us are familiar with this process when mobilising campaigns and movements, so it seems crazy that we can’t get it together for ‘the left’ as a whole.
From what I’ve gathered, the main problem is that no one is really sure who exactly the ‘left’ is or should be, and don’t feel they have the energy, money or time to tackle the differences that have divided people in the past.
But I think this is where the ‘right’ have always had us. They know the left is divided, poorly funded and thus badly organised. They feed off it.
They also have differences of opinion, as we can clearly see amongst front and backbenchers of the Conservatives and with the rise of UKIP, but when it comes to crunch time i.e. an election, they pool together and unify their messages, presenting a stronger face to the voters.
We cannot let this go on. Mass mobilisation isn’t easy, but with so many savvy digitalists, campaigners, thinkers and organisers around, it shouldn’t be impossible. We just need to take the first step. A discussion: a room, some tables, pens and paper, the internet and a few laptops.
I’m in, and willing to help organise. Who’s with me?
Natasha Dyer is head of the London office, DHA Communications. Follow her on Twitter
29 Responses to “Why can’t the left get unified?”
stevep
With the greatest of respect and all the best will in the world, it doesn`t work like that. I wish it did.
People who possess all three talents are rare and should be co-opted to the cause and treasured.
Ultimately we have to utilise what talents people possess, yes, training a thinker to become an organiser or doer is possible, but self-defeating.
For example, If I want an extension to my house I could visualise and conceptualise what I wanted and could probably learn how to build it. But I know from experience that it would be better to hire someone who actually knew how to build houses. That`s because I`m not a very good doer.
I`m not advocating a wilful division of labour, nothing is set in stone and there are thinkers who can organise, as there are organisers who can do and doer`s who are pretty good at thinking.
It`s great that we are having this discussion at all and that so many people on this page are animated about unifying the left. I see it as an urgent priority in the UK.
I`m a thinker. if anyone on the left can make use of my fuddled, often-irrational but intuitive mind, I`m up for it.
LETS GET ORGANISED!
stevep
Who the “enemy” is depends on what sort of society you are living in. Our current Capitalist society probably sees collectivity as the enemy as it is opposed to private greed, which is the current doctrine.
The society I would like to see in the future is one based on collectivity and social responsibilities but with room for individual expression within that framework. A truly democratic society based on fairness and decency. Ensuring every citizen had the right to housing, warmth, food, clothing, education and a decent standard of living.
A society where technology, the means of production and finance are in the hands of the citizens, not a privileged few.
if I had to define the enemies of such a society I would have to say free-market Capitalists and anyone who puts profit and greed before people.
It is difficult because we all live in a Capitalist society at present and like it or not, are shaped by it. We all possess faults and hypocrisies as do people living in all types of societies.
The difference between people who want to build a fairer society and those that accept society as it is, comes down to recognising what those faults and hypocrisies are and how we deal with them.
Shery_lDEastman
JohnRich
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JAMES MCGIBBON
The left cannot get united because it has a lot of facist anti semetic Islamic apologist dictatorial bastards pretending to be socialists in its ranks. Some of the same pricks in the past gave credence to Sinn Fein IRA who killed workers.. However this has nothing to do with the Labour Party, just a usual left problem. Position normal. Sorry for insulting a prick.