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| Sadiq Khan has shown the way back to power for Labour’s aspiring MPs | Sadiq Khan has shown the way back to power for Labour’s aspiring MPs |
| (3 months later) | |
| The victory of Sadiq Khan has done many weird and wonderful things to British politics. It showed that hope could trump hate. It gave Jeremy Corbyn a much-needed shot in the arm. And most significantly it gave a handful of ambitious Labour MPs a glimmer of hope about their own career plans – but only if they get the hell out of Westminster. | The victory of Sadiq Khan has done many weird and wonderful things to British politics. It showed that hope could trump hate. It gave Jeremy Corbyn a much-needed shot in the arm. And most significantly it gave a handful of ambitious Labour MPs a glimmer of hope about their own career plans – but only if they get the hell out of Westminster. |
| The future’s bright. The future’s local. Suddenly local government is sexy. Bear with me here … But it’s sure as hell hotter than years of political tundra in Westminster. And how do we know this? Well, look at the MPs who have already declared or just announced their interest in standing as mayors. | The future’s bright. The future’s local. Suddenly local government is sexy. Bear with me here … But it’s sure as hell hotter than years of political tundra in Westminster. And how do we know this? Well, look at the MPs who have already declared or just announced their interest in standing as mayors. |
| It means that if, and when, these politicians come back to Westminster, they would have matured | It means that if, and when, these politicians come back to Westminster, they would have matured |
| Ivan Lewis and Andy Burnham will slug it out against Tony Lloyd in Manchester. And Luciana Berger launched her campaign on Tuesday, and faces Joe Anderson and Steve Rotherham in the race to be the Labour candidate in Liverpool. | Ivan Lewis and Andy Burnham will slug it out against Tony Lloyd in Manchester. And Luciana Berger launched her campaign on Tuesday, and faces Joe Anderson and Steve Rotherham in the race to be the Labour candidate in Liverpool. |
| Berger is the only woman to have thrown her hat in the mayoral ring and good on her – why should it be jobs for the boys? AGAIN. But there’s more to it than the quest for equality in leadership. She is talented, hardworking, ambitious, confident, well-connected and is the youngest member of the current shadow cabinet. Under normal circumstances, her dazzling future would be assured in Westminster. | Berger is the only woman to have thrown her hat in the mayoral ring and good on her – why should it be jobs for the boys? AGAIN. But there’s more to it than the quest for equality in leadership. She is talented, hardworking, ambitious, confident, well-connected and is the youngest member of the current shadow cabinet. Under normal circumstances, her dazzling future would be assured in Westminster. |
| Burnham has one of the biggest jobs in politics as the shadow home secretary. Rotherham is Jeremy Corbyn’s parliamentary aide. And Lewis is a popular, thoughtful moderate figure with significant experience in government and opposition and would have been a useful person to have brought back to the frontbenches. So why do all these particular MPs want out? For the reasons lots of others do. | Burnham has one of the biggest jobs in politics as the shadow home secretary. Rotherham is Jeremy Corbyn’s parliamentary aide. And Lewis is a popular, thoughtful moderate figure with significant experience in government and opposition and would have been a useful person to have brought back to the frontbenches. So why do all these particular MPs want out? For the reasons lots of others do. |
| Most newer Labour MPs have accepted the bleak reality that they will not be in power for a very long time. Probably not ever.Instead of the glory of government, the future is now about long nights losing votes and drinking away sorrows in the Strangers’ Bar. Now, that’s the fun bit of the week over with. Then it’s back to the constituency for surgeries that get busier and tougher with every passing week, where the reality of not being in power really kicks in and you can’t do much to help people. | Most newer Labour MPs have accepted the bleak reality that they will not be in power for a very long time. Probably not ever.Instead of the glory of government, the future is now about long nights losing votes and drinking away sorrows in the Strangers’ Bar. Now, that’s the fun bit of the week over with. Then it’s back to the constituency for surgeries that get busier and tougher with every passing week, where the reality of not being in power really kicks in and you can’t do much to help people. |
| This wasn’t what people signed up for. There are mutterings about a raft of Labour MPs seriously considering standing down at the next election or even earlier and getting out of politics while they are still young enough to try to make it elsewhere. | This wasn’t what people signed up for. There are mutterings about a raft of Labour MPs seriously considering standing down at the next election or even earlier and getting out of politics while they are still young enough to try to make it elsewhere. |
| But Khan – and indeed the excellent Marvin Rees in Bristol – showed others there could be a third way. Leave Westminster. Leave the bubble and go local. Go back to your regions and prepare for local government – said no one ever, until now. And maybe national government. One day. | But Khan – and indeed the excellent Marvin Rees in Bristol – showed others there could be a third way. Leave Westminster. Leave the bubble and go local. Go back to your regions and prepare for local government – said no one ever, until now. And maybe national government. One day. |
| But it could be a smart move. Devolved power is the next big thing in politics. For too long our best political talent was instructed to trail their sights on Westminster. Look at what happened to Labour in Scotland. We had a culture where our best people were so obsessed with getting ahead in Westminster, we didn’t tend to our own backyard for years and paid a heavy if not fatal price. We’re in an age where people all over the country feel remote and disconnected from Westminster politics and so it’s important for Labour figures who want to have a future to reconnect with power on a more local level and can demonstrate that they understand what it means to give power away. To get what One Nation actually means – and not just as a vacuous slogan from Westminster. | But it could be a smart move. Devolved power is the next big thing in politics. For too long our best political talent was instructed to trail their sights on Westminster. Look at what happened to Labour in Scotland. We had a culture where our best people were so obsessed with getting ahead in Westminster, we didn’t tend to our own backyard for years and paid a heavy if not fatal price. We’re in an age where people all over the country feel remote and disconnected from Westminster politics and so it’s important for Labour figures who want to have a future to reconnect with power on a more local level and can demonstrate that they understand what it means to give power away. To get what One Nation actually means – and not just as a vacuous slogan from Westminster. |
| And, of course, it’s any ambitious person’s best hope of having power and being able to shape things in a meaningful way. Local council leaders often have far more ability to change lives than a backbench MP and are the ones having to handle big budgets, serious public policy projects from childcare to transport to housing and innovate in a time of cuts. Local government leaders in Labour areas will be the ones who will get the hands-on experience of power. | And, of course, it’s any ambitious person’s best hope of having power and being able to shape things in a meaningful way. Local council leaders often have far more ability to change lives than a backbench MP and are the ones having to handle big budgets, serious public policy projects from childcare to transport to housing and innovate in a time of cuts. Local government leaders in Labour areas will be the ones who will get the hands-on experience of power. |
| In the short term that’s good for them on a personal level. It gives them a mission and something useful and positive to do. But it gives them an important longer-term advantage. It means they can be the big, credible, experienced figures who can be the leading lights and help Labour return to being a winning force. This is what happened in the 1980s. David Blunkett in Sheffield. Graham Stringer in Manchester. Margaret Hodge in Islington. Jeremy Beecham in Newcastle. We had big, trusted figures from local government who helped support the national fightback and made important contributions. | In the short term that’s good for them on a personal level. It gives them a mission and something useful and positive to do. But it gives them an important longer-term advantage. It means they can be the big, credible, experienced figures who can be the leading lights and help Labour return to being a winning force. This is what happened in the 1980s. David Blunkett in Sheffield. Graham Stringer in Manchester. Margaret Hodge in Islington. Jeremy Beecham in Newcastle. We had big, trusted figures from local government who helped support the national fightback and made important contributions. |
| And it means that if, and when, these politicians come back to Westminster, they would have matured. Some of the best politicians take time to grow, learn and find their voice and their courage. People forget that Tony Blair didn’t waltz into the shadow cabinet overnight. It took him time and a lot of graft to get there. As someone once said, we need both the Facebook and the facelift generation. | And it means that if, and when, these politicians come back to Westminster, they would have matured. Some of the best politicians take time to grow, learn and find their voice and their courage. People forget that Tony Blair didn’t waltz into the shadow cabinet overnight. It took him time and a lot of graft to get there. As someone once said, we need both the Facebook and the facelift generation. |
| So if we see the likes of Berger, Lewis, Burnham and others go off now, find themselves as leaders, do good, reconnect with their regions and come back older, wiser and more experienced, then that may be an unintended but ultimately healthy thing both for them as individuals and for the party. As one of them said to me: “Whatever happens, I’m glad I’m going for it. It feels a mercy to be working on something positive …” And given where Labour is in the polls right now, perhaps small mercies are enough. | So if we see the likes of Berger, Lewis, Burnham and others go off now, find themselves as leaders, do good, reconnect with their regions and come back older, wiser and more experienced, then that may be an unintended but ultimately healthy thing both for them as individuals and for the party. As one of them said to me: “Whatever happens, I’m glad I’m going for it. It feels a mercy to be working on something positive …” And given where Labour is in the polls right now, perhaps small mercies are enough. |
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