THE Labour Party has the huge task of rebuilding itself in the south-east of England after a series of disastrous local election results. One reason why there should not be an autumn general election is that time is desperately needed to use the “Brown bounce” to revive the party in the region.

 
According to Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee: “Labour will never win in places  like Surrey.” However, hardworking party members in places right across the south east, including Hampshire, Berkshire, Sussex and, yes, Surrey, resent the way Labour’s prospects in these areas are dismissed in such a cavalier fashion.

Labour currently holds 17 parliamentary seats in the south-east region. A few years ago, it had virtually none. Even in Surrey, the only county without a Labour MP, Labour has come close to winning a seat in Spelthorne. At the next election, Labour should be aiming to take as many as 25 parliamentary seats in the south east, including constituencies like Basingstoke.

With the appropriate and properly-supported organisation, Labour should be capable of making real gains at council level, as its recent success in Aldershot demonstrates.

It is not necessary to advocate right-wing policies in order to win the support of public service employees, manual workers and disadvantaged groups in the region. And Labour’s natural constituency includes many others besides these. We need to reform the progressive consensus that was so important in mobilising for Labour’s 1997 victory.

The message of despair espoused by the likes of Toynbee contributed to Labour sinking to fourth place behind the far right in May’s local elections on what used to be a solid Labour estate in Farnborough.

There is severe hardship for young families in boroughs of Surrey and Berkshire where the waiting list for social housing has quadrupled. But people in the south east have to put up with the sort of local government Surrey has, which is unable to manage its spending on highways and has an unspent budget of £2.5 million while infrastructure crumbles. Addressing all this has to be essential for Labour.

James Purnell, the Culture Secretary, is right to identify culture as central to the struggle to win hearts and minds for Labour. Under Tony Blair, the party did not do enough to challenge the Tory fiefdoms in the south east, so the arrogance of power manifested by the controlling Conservatives remains very much in evidence.

For instance, in Surrey Heath, where I live, organisations such as Christian Aid, Amnesty International and the United Nations Association, came together to organise an evening to mark World Poverty Day. Shadow Education Minister Michael Gove, the local Tory MP was initially due to speak on “What the Government is doing to end poverty”. Presumably, he had gained valuable insights from the priority Margaret Thatcher and John Major gave to the issue. However, by the time my ticket for the evening arrived, the laudable purpose of the event had been altered. It was now: “An Evening with Michael Gove”.

Unless Labour is able to utilise the fresh initiative provided by Gordon Brown’s leadership, such Tory attitudes will continue to be prevalent in the south east.

Fortunately, Labour activists are not content to rest on their laurels after the successful launch at the Bournemouth conference of a campaign to boost the party’s prospects in the south-east of England. This week in Camberley there was a meeting to set up an organisation similar to the Third Place First campaigning group of the 1990s, which operated throughout the south east.

It is significant that the Prime Minister has given Stephen Ladyman, one of the party’s new vice-chairs, specific responsibilities for the region. As it should be, Labour’s priority is the whole country. That includes the south-east region – and Surrey.

 
From Tribune, 5 October 2007

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