The Labour Party: Why bother?

So why should organisations expend limited time, effort and resources in engaging with the Labour Party?

1. Do not ignore Parliament – it is too easy to become fixated on what is happening with the leadership of a party but a lot of the hard work goes on in a less high profile way in Parliament. The work there is also likely to have the most impact on legislation and often in long-term policy development terms as well. A balanced approach between the parties provides options and allows a public strategy to be developed. Working, in effect, with only the party of Government limits your tactical options and, it can argued, makes you easier to ignore.
2. Political parties have long memories – to simply stop engaging with a party is to risk the relationship over the long term. Many organisations made the mistake of simply dumping the Conservative Party after its 1997 result. Eventually, of course, the party returned to being an effective opposition and then returned to Government. Many in the parties will remember who stayed loyal and who did not.
3. If you don’t input then you risk problems – you remain your own best advocates and if you are not talking to Labour then you risk your issues being misunderstood, having policy outcomes that run counter to your needs or being on the receiving end of a misinformed attack. All such outcomes are possible if engagement does not take place.
4. Stable Government? A strategy that fails to engage with Labour assumes ongoing stability in the Government. May’s Government looks good at the moment but has not been stress tested yet, especially over Brexit. Once some of the deals need to be agreed then we will start to see how united the Government really is and how well the three Brexiteers at the top of Government – Davis, Johnson and Fox – can really work together. A one-party approach is a long-term risk.
5. Local and national – the Labour Party remains hugely important at a local level. As well as controlling councils up and down England, Wales and even Scotland, the party’s candidates hold the mayoralties of London, Liverpool and Bristol (as well as a host of other areas). So ignoring Labour is to adopt an overly media and Westminster centric view of the world. As the shift towards devolution, signified by initiatives such as the Northern Powerhouse continues, then again ignoring Labour could cause your organisation substantial problems.