Labour to reach heartlands and middle England
Gordon Brown must stick to the New Labour coalition if he is to win a fourth election victory, the man responsible for writing his manifesto said last night.
Ed Miliband revealed no sign of a shift back to the left, saying Labour will continue with their centrist consensus into the next election.
But Mr Miliband argued people had to reject the idea of an impassable conflict between traditional Labour seats and the marginal ‘middle England’ votes Labour needs to win another landslide victory.
He told a Labour conference fringe meeting, the manifesto would focus on the issues which matter to people in their everyday lives but are often ignored in Westminster, such as bus services.
He admitted the government had been too slow to tap into the groundswell of unease surrounding housing, which had not been fully highlighted before John Cruddas’ campaign for the deputy leadership.
Speaking at the Indpendent fringe event, Mr Cruddas agreed Labour had to tap into issues like migrant labour and job insecurity.
He said Mr Brown would have to focus on winning back the four key groups lost since 1997; public sector workers, ethnic minority voters, middle-class intellectuals and male manual workers”.
Speaking from the panel, Patricia Hewitt admitted a lack of support from public sector workers could prove critical for Labour.
The former health secretary said the government could have been better at carrying workers with it on public sector reforms.
She said Labour also needed to fully grasp the new green agenda, arguing “ecological justice” must become part of their DNA.
Ms Hewitt said the strength of Labour in opposition had been Tony Blair’s grasp of the need to reform, and the party now needed to renew itself in government.
Mr Miliband agreed and said the issues facing Labour were now very different than in 1997.
Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock said the party was now in an unusual position, where it had firm credentials but needed to be stronger on vision.
Previously, he said, Labour activists had to convince the public they could deliver on the strength of their vision.
Lord Kinnock said Labour must put forward an optimistic agenda, putting clear ground between them and the Conservatives’ increasingly pessimistic stance.
He predicted turnout would be the biggest threat in a fourth election and voters needed a positive reason to come out and back Mr Brown.
Mr Miliband remained tight lipped on the future election date, with commentators increasingly speculating Mr Brown has not decided when to go the polls.
The Cabinet Office minister said the degree of election speculation showed what a strong position the party was in, pointing to Labour’s eight point lead.
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