Kinnock in bid to spark a Labour Renaissance
NEW group co-founded by Aberavon MP Stephen Kinnock says Labour will win back support by sharpening its commitment to the party’s historic mission and values.
Renaissance spoke to 60 former Labour voters across England and Wales – each of whom voted Conservative in 2019 but Labour in either 2015 or 2017 – in order to discuss the major challenges facing the UK and the solutions Labour might put forward.
It revealed three key challenges; the need for the party to establish a clear identity, the need for Labour to win trust on managing the public finances, and the need for Labour to tell a positive story about the future of Britain.
A newly-released report from Renaissance calls on Sir Keir Starmer to prioritise and double-down on three of his major conference speech themes – ‘ Good Jobs’, ‘Value for Money’, and ‘Security’.
It also calls for Labour to actively champion a more resilient Britain in order to tell a wider story about how the Conservatives have left businesses, supply chains and critical national infrastructure vulnerable and exposed to hostile capital.
The report makes four recommendations about the areas to concentrate on and five about how to get its messages across better:
Labour should relentlessly promote its core identity as the party of working people – and of “good jobs you can raise a family on”;
it must show how each penny it invests will provide value for money, by saving money for frontline services in the long-term; it must demonstrate it is committed to building “a more resilient Britain that can stand more firmly on its own two feet”; it must campaign for “safer communities and high streets”; in terms of its messaging it should repeat, repeat, repeat – and be consistent; it should be bold, continuing in the vein of Labour conference by taking strong and principled positions on major issues; it should critique the Conservatives through a “communitarian” lens, and focus on future battles; it should point to Labour’s successes to show what the party can achieve in office; and it should navigate “culture war” distractions by focussing on the future and what can be delivered. Mr Kinnock, who chairs Renaissance, said: “What is clear from Renaissance’s conversations with former Labour voters is that while politicians in general are not trusted, it’s particularly difficult for Labour to get a hearing because in contrast to the Tories our 11 years in opposition have deprived us of opportunities to show what we stand for by delivering change in government.
“In addition, Labour’s core identity as the natural home for working people has not always been at the front of our communications, meaning that voters haven’t always understood Labour’s wider intentions. Keir is rightly addressing addres this issue by relentlessly emphasising emph that Labour is the party of wor work and good jobs.
“The report also makes clear that the former for Labour voters whose trust and support su we must win back have made up their minds that austerity was a necessary evil, so it has therefore b been reassuring to see Keir Starmer Starm and Rachel Reeves put ‘value for money’ at the heart of our party’s investment proposals. Labour can an and should focus on the damaging ou outcomes of austerity – such as more crime, anti-social behaviour and homelessness h – rather than focusing focusi on the policy itself.”
Joe Jervis, director of Renaissance and project p lead, said: “Our report suggests sugges that Labour can benefit from telling t a positive, patriotic and compelling national story about the need for a more resilient Britain that can stand more firmly on its own two feet in an increasingly uncertain and turbulent world.
Swansea East MP Carolyn Harris, the deputy leader of Welsh Labour, said: “Modern politics has become far too disconnected from people and places.
“Keir Starmer is re-establishing Labour as the natural party of working families, and Renaissance’s report shows why this is so important.
“As a former dinner lady who became an MP in order to fight deep injustices like gambling addiction and child funeral costs, I am pleased that Renaissance is working directly with voters – starting with the first set of 60 conversations behind this report.”