Labour needs to have rural voters onside to win election

FROM the moment Sir Keir Starmer announced he would be addressing the National Farmers’ Union conference in February 2021 – the first Labour leader to do so in well over a decade – it was clear he had got the message that if Labour wants to win an election it needs rural as well as urban voters onside.

Since then, the leader of the Opposition has addressed more farmer gatherings, visited the farm in Wiltshire of NFU president Minette Batters and made a point of making generally supportive noises about agriculture and rural life.

At this year’s NFU conference, he pledged a Labour government would commit to ensuring half of all food purchased for the public sector in Britain would be sourced from UK farms, and echoed a speech at the same event from former MI5 Director General Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller that food security is national security. So far, so positive.

There is, however, more work for Labour to do if the countryside is to feel that it can thrive under a Labour government.

It is tempting for politicians to see many rural issues in terms of how they play with the public at large. That’s one reason Tony Blair moved to ban hunting with hounds with the introduction of the Hunting Act which came into force in 2005. Ask 100 people at random what they think of hunting and a majority – many of whom will not have given the issue a moment’s thought until asked – will probably say ‘ban it!’

On that basis, Mr Blair almost certainly thought: ‘Why not bow to pressure from those vehement antihunting campaigners in the party and move to introduce restrictive legislation. It’ll probably be popular too!’ He was not wrong. But – and this is a lesson Keir Starmer would do well to learn – being popular with the mass of the population on fringe issues that impact on very few of them and are often poorly understood, does not necessarily make for good law. Even Tony Blair acknowledged, in his autobiography, that the Hunting Act was one of the domestic policies he most bitterly regretted, failing to appreciate that while it was – unless asked directly – a non-issue for a majority, it mattered a very great deal to those involved.

Sir Keir has moved to modify a number of policies that, on the face of it, might have appeared popular but would have proved damaging to a proportion of the population for very modest political gain.

Labour’s proposed right to roam plans for England are, we learned last week, to be substantially watered down. Extending the right of access over large swathes of countryside makes for a strong headline. But the thousands of miles of footpaths already criss-crossing England are rarely crammed with walkers.

Demand for more space to enjoy the countryside is hardly a pressing issue. The impact of opening up wider access would, however, have created problems for some farmers and could have damaged sensitive locations where wildlife needs peace and quiet to thrive.

There remain, however, totemic policies that Labour remains committed to, including extending the Hunting Act to outlaw trail hunting. Might that pledge go too?

It may make some people’s blood boil to see red-coated huntsmen and women following a pack of hounds across the countryside. Clearly, where the law is broken, action should be taken. But Sir Keir probably remembers it took seven years of parliamentary time to bring in the 2004 Hunting Act and prompted mass demonstrations from rural folk on a number of marches for Freedom and Liberty. Is it worth that kind of distraction – and the alienation of parts of the rural electorate – to try to kill off England’s traditional hunts? I make these comments without any direct involvement in hunting. The ban made little difference to me.

Even Peter Mandelson, architect of New Labour, has acknowledged that his party has to tread carefully if it wants to win the rural seats it needs to take power again. He told the Future Countryside conference earlier this year that Labour’s message would not be heard in the countryside if rural people feel the party doesn’t understand them.

Tellingly he went on: “Naturally politicians receive calls from pressure groups to take action. Some of these calls are right. But governments cannot behave like single issue groups. And if it is wrong for the Right to stoke culture wars against minorities, it is just as wrong for the Left to stoke culture wars against rural minorities.”

Mandy knows his politics. As Labour hones its rural offering in advance of a coming general election, Sir Keir should heed his words.