{"id":1165,"date":"2020-04-03T13:26:22","date_gmt":"2020-04-03T12:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/?p=1165"},"modified":"2020-04-03T13:26:23","modified_gmt":"2020-04-03T12:26:23","slug":"taking-over-from-corbyn-new-leader-old-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2020\/04\/03\/taking-over-from-corbyn-new-leader-old-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking over from Corbyn &#8211;  New Leader, Old Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Saturday\u2019s (4 April) \u201creveal\u201d of the Labour leadership\nresult would under normal circumstances be a big news event.&nbsp; The coronavirus crisis however means the\ncontrast with the big noisy 2015 announcement event will be stark.&nbsp; There will be no room full of party\nactivists, candidates, journalists and MPs, no clapping, no leaping onto a\nstage after handshakes for the photographers.&nbsp;\nInstead there will be a simple announcement and the screening of a\nfilmed victory speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the loss of the drama doesn\u2019t change the fact that the\nnew leader will have a massive task on his or her hands.&nbsp; Even without COVID19, the situation facing\nLabour is tough.&nbsp; There are real\nquestions about direction, about electability and about party unity.&nbsp; Those who\u2019ve studied party leadership\ncontests argue that those doing the choosing particularly prize unity, but\nthere is little point in being united if elections can\u2019t then be won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In normal times the new leader would have a couple of\nobvious platforms to use to build profile and do some opposition.&nbsp; These are Parliamentary sessions after the\nrecess, in particular Prime Minister\u2019s Questions and the annual party\nconference.&nbsp; These are not normal times\nhowever.&nbsp; Parliament may have to return <a href=\"https:\/\/www.parliament.uk\/business\/news\/2020\/april1\/speaker-urges-virtual-parliament-to-keep-up-commons-scrutiny\/\">as\na virtual chamber<\/a> for a while and doubt must hang over the September\nconference. (The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.libdemvoice.org\/plans-for-lib-dem-autumn-conference-on-hold-online-options-to-be-explored-instead-63913.html\">Lib\nDems<\/a> for exampleare to take a decision on cancellation shortly) <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first test of the new leader would have been in just a\nmonth\u2019s&nbsp; time, with a set of\nelections&nbsp; including the contest for\nLondon Mayor.&nbsp; The cancellation of these\nmeans a year- long build up to a massive test in 2021 when this year\u2019s\nelections join next years. This brings the Scottish Parliament and Welsh\nAssembly into the equation.&nbsp; This is a\nmixed blessing.&nbsp; A set of elections this\nMay could have produced \u201cbetter than expected\u201d results for the leader.&nbsp; Labour was highly likely to hold on to some\nsignificant positions. Putting Scotland into the mix, as will happen next year,\nrisks bad news stories overshadowing anything good.&nbsp; But at least the delay to 2021 means that the\nparty can do some planning on messages and direction and put 2019 a more\ndistant view in the rear view mirror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So what are the urgent tasks and\nchallenges facing the new leader?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sort out the party machine.&nbsp; This is easier said than done.&nbsp; Media reports have pointed to a dysfunctional\nset of relationships at various levels.&nbsp;\nThe National Executive Committee is the centre for most decision-making\nand the new leader will need to find a way to use this to make changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Work out key messages that are\nbelievable.&nbsp; The problem with the 2019\nelection policies wasn\u2019t that people didn\u2019t like them.&nbsp; Some were very popular.&nbsp; It is that there were far too many and it\nwasn\u2019t clear what was important or how some of it would be paid for. To be\ncredible the party has to have core policy offers and avoid the temptation to\nproduce a shopping list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Find a way of describing Labour\u2019s\nmission in a way which is &nbsp;simple and\nclear.&nbsp; Politics is about more than\nslogans, but slogans often take us to the heart of the matter.&nbsp; We all knew what Tony Blair meant by \u201ctough\non crime and tough on the causes of crime\u201d.&nbsp;\n\u201cNew Labour \u2013 Because Britain Deserves Better\u201d is good communication and\nhas the benefit of appearing to apply to everyone. Compared to these, what does\n\u201cFor the Many not the Few\u201d actually mean, or convey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Find a (tactful) way to get\nthough.&nbsp; In normal times an opposition\npolitician could just blast away.&nbsp; Today\nhe or she runs the risk of appearing to politicise a crisis or to be focusing\non the wrong issues.&nbsp; Yet there are ways\nof communicating during a crisis which combine an understanding of what people\nare willing to listen to with a clear message of change. &nbsp;Chief among these is looking and sounding like\nsomeone who could deal with a crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, although this will be\ndifficult, find ways of ending internal party fighting.&nbsp; Parties are never entirely peaceful, but\ninternal arguments which break out in public are damaging.&nbsp; They drive away supporters and voters, they\ncan lead to the loss of activists and they generate a lot of bad press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The electorate in this contest\nhave been labour members, affiliated supporters and registered supporters.&nbsp; The new leader will need at the very least to\ntake the first group with him or her.&nbsp;\nThis is going to need an <a href=\"https:\/\/labourlist.org\/2020\/04\/exclusive-labour-members-still-favour-radical-corbynite-policies-poll-finds\/\">understanding\nof what the members<\/a> believe, but also the courage to challenge at times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whoever wins will certainly have\ntheir work cut out!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Saturday\u2019s (4 April) \u201creveal\u201d of the Labour leadership result would under normal circumstances be a big news event.&nbsp; The coronavirus crisis however means the contrast with the big noisy 2015 announcement event will be stark.&nbsp; There will be no room full of party activists, candidates, journalists and MPs, no clapping, no leaping onto a stage [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1269,"featured_media":1169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1688,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Taking over from Corbyn - New Leader, Old Problems - Comment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2020\/04\/03\/taking-over-from-corbyn-new-leader-old-problems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taking over from Corbyn - New Leader, Old Problems - Comment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Saturday\u2019s (4 April) \u201creveal\u201d of the Labour leadership result would under normal circumstances be a big news event.&nbsp; 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