Labour is failing to make a compelling case against the far-right, argues progressive campaigns adviser India Thorogood
India Thorogood was Head of Membership Mobilisation for Labour under Jeremy Corbyn and now works as an adviser to progressive campaigns.
From David and Goliath to Robin Hood, stories shape our beliefs before we can even walk. Yet as we face a once in a generation challenge from the far-right, we’re not hearing a convincing one from Labour.
Labour has held the Manchester Gorton and Denton area for nine decades, yet bookies have placed the Greens as favourites for the upcoming by-election, with Reform a close second. Many in this diverse, disproportionately poor constituency are angry. According to the Green candidate, residents are “knackered and can’t afford to put food on the table”.
Despite much failure, Labour has introduced renters’ rights reforms, nationalised railways and, after much persuasion, has committed to lifting the two-child benefit cap. But people aren’t feeling any change. So who do they blame for their problems? Migrants and the government.
Zack Polanski, on the other hand, blames the super rich. His social media videos, many produced by Jeremy Corbyn’s former videographer, reach millions. But it’s more than just social media know-how. Like Farage, Polanski tells a more compelling story than Starmer.
Recent polling by Persuasion shows that the country is split between voters who blame migrants for the country’s problems and those who blame the super rich. More blame the super rich though: 44% of the country.
Research shows that the strongest way to counter Reform is to expose their corporate backers – and 75% of Reform’s funding comes from just three men: a hedge fund manager, a crypto investor and a property developer.
So why not blame them for our problems? After all, Farage might blame migrants for empty high streets filled with vape shops, but its billionaires who own many of them.
But this Labour won’t say that. Morgan McSweeney and others, including his hero Peter Mandelson are too interested in going after the Left, even those in the centre such as Andy Burnham. Unlike Polanski or Farage, Starmer is focused on an enemy that no one normal is bothered about.
Then there’s the fear of upsetting donors. Starmer’s Labour has accepted the largest corporate donations in the party’s history. It’s no surprise then that reports consistently show the party backing away from confronting corporate power. Yet for “Reform curious” voters, what the pundits call “economic populism” works.
Some will claim attacking corporations alienates swing voters. That’s not what the evidence shows. Decades of research in the UK and US shows that naming the enemy is effective. US messaging expert Anat Shenker-Osario argues it’s better to clearly define your opposition because not everyone is genuinely persuadable anyway. There is shared anger about material conditions that, if properly directed, could unite working people against the far-right rather than each other.
Campaigns like “Together” are launching to unite people against the far-right, just as Rock Against Racism helped make anti-fascism popular in the past. That’s vital and overdue, but it’s not enough. The Democrats binned their best performing ads that took on corporate profiteers and look at what is happening in their communities. Let’s not let that history repeat here.
We need Left leaders who are willing to fight the far-right. We need them to take on the super rich who keep wages low and rent high. We must fight for those new leaders with urgency. But all our movements, communities and campaigns can do better too, just as Polanski is trying to. Reform and the far right’s stories are spreading fast, when will our own?
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