Milestones are always a time for reflection. So the 25th anniversary of New Labour’s election triumph this weekend has prompted an outpouring of dewy-eyed reminiscences from commentators of a certain vintage about how great it all was.
Cool Britannia, the minimum wage, PFI deals and the Millennium Dome. Truly, a golden age: things really could only get better. To mark this auspicious occasion, a familiar face from those halcyon days has re-emerged to remind voters about the best that New Labour had to offer.
Alastair Campbell, the king of spin, has popped up with a new report by Labour in Communications urging Sir Keir Starmer to revamp his approach to PR ahead of the next election. Campbell has written the foreword to Lessons from a Landslide which outlines ‘how best it [Labour] can learn from the successful formula used by the party in 1997.’
According to the report, there are six lessons to draw from Labour’s past successes including ‘neutralise your opponent’s attack line,’ making Labour ‘the patriotic party of Britain again’ and offering a ‘simplicity and consistency of message and style’ – something which the party certainly needs.
But Mr S isn’t sure whether Campbell is best placed to champion some of the report’s other recommendations too. For Lessons from a Landslide suggests Starmer ‘reflect the mood of the press’ and ‘engage with the right-wing press more actively.’ Would that be the right-wing press Campbell has spent the past six years denouncing, such as, er, last week when he likened the Daily Mail to the virulently antisemitic Nazi newspaper Der Stürmer?
And, if, as the report suggests, Starmer’s success rests upon him neutralising claims that he is part of the ‘London Remainer elite’ then should the Labour leader be listening to the editor-at-large of the New European newspaper?
The report, welcomed by Campbell, suggests Starmer ‘offer a new approach to politics’ and ‘address the Hung Parliament question,’ outlining Labour’s position on a deal with the SNP well ahead of any election. Yet both of these are something which the party has repeatedly failed to do in successive elections.
Campbell may be best known for his work on the 1997, 2001 and 2005 Labour triumphs but less remembered are his work on the party’s 2010 and 2015 campaigns: the last of which saw Ed Miliband depicted as being in Alex Sturgeon’s pocket.
Given the failures of some more recent initiatives like the disastrous People’s Vote campaign, perhaps it ought to be Campbell reading, rather than writing, about lessons learned from past setbacks.
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