Sunderland MP argues that Labour has to stop looking to the past and offer a different vision of the future.
Speaking at the What Next for Labour? conference hosted by the Mile End Institute, MP Bridget Phillipson called for Labour to change its language and approach to the electorate.
“I like the old posters and as much as anyone, but they don’t win elections” the Sunderland MP said.
Phillipson argued that the anti-Tory message that Labour has relied on for sometime – particularly in northern constituencies like hers – has now come to the end of it’s relevance. Saying simply “The terrible Tories killed off our industries – don’t vote for them again only ever got us so far.” She argues that this has now lost relevance to large swathes of the electorate “I’m 36 and I can barely remember mining in Sunderland.”
Labour needs to find a new language that speaks to a completely transformed workforce. “We’re not a country of miners anymore. We’re a country of the self-employed, of hairdressers, care workers and call centre workers. We need language and policies that speak to them. When we use our nostalgic language, it speaks to us, it doesn’t mean much to the general public.”
Phillipson also argues that there is a gendered element to the nostalgia that is overlooked. This different workforce looks very different from those Labour are nostalgic about. So sticking to that nostalgic vision is ignoring and sidelining women too.
Phillipson was speaking at a day-long conference held by the Mile End Institute, part of the School of Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary University.
Emma Burnell is a freelance journalist and political consultant.
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