Why?

These are my personal reflections as the former Labour and co-operative MP for the marginal constituency of Loughborough which I held between 1997 and 2010.

The Blogs are largely about understanding the Labour Party since 2010 and plenty of unsought advice for how to win a marginal ‘Middle England’ seat!

I have shared my frustration with the Miliband years and the horror of the Corbyn period leading to the disastrous 2019 General Election defeat.

At times I have been too timid for the fear of upsetting friends and being accused of undermining the Party and candidates – whilst at the same time being accused of doing that! So maybe I got the balance about right. I have certainly not held back on what I thought of Corbyn since day one.

As we move through the 2020’s I will reflect on what a Johnson Government means, how Brexit will unfold and what will happen to the Labour Party. Is it the end or just another long period in the wilderness. Will Labour members ever learn about the importance of winning elections?

I am sure the next decade will be as eventful at the last. Except this time we don’t have a home Olympics to cheer us up a little as we did in 2012!

  • Leading or be led?
    The evidence is overwhelming: health and wellbeing are not just desirable outcomes in and of themselves, but essential components of a programme for growth, productivity, national renewal and opportunity for all.
  • What next after the local election results?
    The analysis of the local election results has continued all week and still much of it has been about its impact on the next General Election not what happens in our local town halls. I plead guilty to being part of that commentary despite my desire to promote local democracy.
  • Dire local election results for the Tories but good enough for Labour? I think so.
    The local election results are now finalised, the analysis and commentators are poring over all the data and guess what – the Tories have fared really badly. I think we can all agree on that. It is something when you brief about losing 1000 seats as part of your expectation management and then achieve a worse result. There will be a lot of angry ex-tory councillors today who know they lost because of the national picture not necessarily their own local councils performance. Labour has now become the largest party in local government, which hasn’t happened since our days in government in 2002. And these losses need to set against one of the worst results in 2019 as a rather low base from which to fall.
  • Is this 1995 Again?
    It is early on Friday morning the day after the local elections and the political nerd in me is buzzing. It is the one time each year I enjoy spreadsheets. So far the results for Labour look encouraging. It is early in the day so there isn’t a complete picture, but it does look as though the Labour double digit opinion poll lead is translating into changes on the ground, at the level, or near the level you would expect.
  • Local Elections or National Opinion Poll?
    Across parts of the country voters will be heading to the polls tomorrow to elect their local councillors. However, most of you won’t be. The turnout for local elections is historically poor and there is little indication it will be different tomorrow. Listen to people moan about their neighbourhood on social media and you will know there is plenty of interest in ‘local issues’ and especially almost anything to do with planning! So why is there such a disconnect?
  • I’m backing the striker
    The current government doesn’t have a great track record taking on footballers in the media. We all know how the row with Marcus Rashford ended for them. But despite my affection and admiration for Leicester lad Gary Lineker and what he said last week I fear there are many on the Right who are happy to see the battle with the BBC carry on.
  • Replaced by AI? This week in Politics
    I would never have guessed when I started randomly collecting my thoughts on some aspects of politics on this site that I would be replaced by an AI bot. But it’s almost here isn’t it? Over the last week I wanted to write about Labour’s Five missions and what this means for the coming election and more importantly for me what it would mean for the first term of a Labour government.
  • NI Protocol Deal Changes Politics for Good.
    I’ve often written about #Brexit and hoped at some stage we could have a normal conversation about its impact and what can be done to end the misery it has caused. Until this last week I didn’t think that would be possible before the next election. But perhaps the ‘Windsor Agreement’ has changed quite a bit in British politics and our relationship with Europe. Here are a few quick things I have noticed and worth pondering over the coming months ahead of the General Election. These are in no particular order of importance!
  • The Ghost of Johnson Looms large over the Tory Party
    Once again there are too many topics to capture this week, but I was hoping the briefings coming out of the government over a ‘Deal on the NI Protocol’ might just mean Sunak was bringing back serious government.
  • Is the Election in the bag for Labour?
    We have had another week of terrible polling for the Tories – suggesting if there was an election tomorrow (which there won’t be) they could be reduced to third place … Continue reading Is the Election in the bag for Labour?