Why I shall not be voting Labour

I was a Labour Party member from 1962 until I finally resigned in January this year. During that time I held practically every office in the Party except that of Member of Parliament. I have been Branch Secretary in Bristol, Newcastle and Coventry, Constituency Party Secretary in Birmingham, Election Agent in Portsmouth. I have been a delegate to Annual Conference and served for four years as an elected member of Birmingham City Council. I have knocked on countless doors, delivered thousands of election addresses and canvassed entire polling districts. I have been the archetype of the Labour activist.


Yet on 4 July I shall not be voting Labour.

My decision to resign from the Party was the culmination of a series of betrayals and disappointments stretching back many years. My reasons can be summarised under three main headings:

• The final elimination of (any pretence of) democracy in the Party

•  The abandonment of democratic socialist policies

• The opportunism and lack of principle of the Party leadership

 

The final elimination of (any pretence of) democracy in the Party

I discussed the lack of democracy in the Party in my blog article “Should I give up on the Labour Party?”, published on 5 December 2021. In that article I concluded, on balance, and despite all the obstacles and frustrations, that it was still worth while staying in the Party in order to participate in local candidate selections and vote in NEC and perhaps future leadership elections. I felt there was still a role, however limited, for ordinary Party members to decide Party policy and ensure that our elected representatives truly reflected the values and principles of the Party.


However, it has become increasingly clear that the constitutional changes imposed since the election of Keir Starmer have now made it impossible for ordinary members to have any significant influence. NEC membership and elections are rigged to ensure a majority for the current leadership. The NEC decides, sometimes in the face of overwhelming local opposition, who is allowed to be a candidate for Parliament. Party policy is largely devolved to “policy forums” in conjunction with the NEC, and resolutions from constituency parties are ruled out of order. (In any case the party leadership can and does ignore or veto policies they do not agree with). In a Party leadership election, the Parliamentary Party (itself dominated by MPs who have been vetted by the NEC) decides who is allowed to be nominated, thereby excluding candidates who might advocate radical changes in policy.


Thus the Labour Party leadership has become a self-perpetuating oligarchy that cannot be challenged. The obvious analogy is the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. I cannot support such a party.



The abandonment of democratic socialist policies

The last 45 years (that is, the period since the 1979 election) have seen a steady regression from the consensual social democratic policies that followed the second world war. Here are some examples of this trend:

• Basic utility industries, such as gas, electricity, water, telecommunications, railways and buses have been privatised

• Workers’ rights have been reduced and trade unions restricted in protecting their members

• More than half of council and other social housing has been sold off and replaced by a growing private rented sector, while rent controls have been abolished

• The role of local education authorities in organising and managing primary and secondary education in their areas has been effectively abolished in England and a majority of schools transferred to independent “academies”

• Local government has been starved of funds and forced to close or reduce its services

When in opposition the Labour Party voted against many of these policies and promised to reverse them when in government, but in practice it has mostly failed to do so and has tacitly accepted the Conservative agenda. There has been a sort of ratchet effect: changes can be made in a right wing direction, but not in a left wing direction.


Other policies that were recently advocated by the Party but which have now been substantially weakened or abandoned include:

• the “green new deal” - phasing out fossil fuels and investing in renewable energy

• financing such capital investment by borrowing

• replacing the House of Lords

Instead the Party has committed to following the Conservative programme of spending cuts and ruled out increases in income tax, National Insurance and VAT.


The opportunism and lack of principle of the Party leadership

Sir Keir Starmer’s lack of principles and values can be illustrated by the following examples.

In January 2020, in his personal manifesto for the Party leadership election, Sir Keir promised to unify the Party and respect the legacy of his predecessor whom he had served under. He based his offer on “the moral case for socialism” and made the following pledges:

1. Economic justice – including raising income tax for the top 5% of incomes
2. Social justice – abolish Universal Credit, defend the NHS
3. Climate justice – the Green New Deal
4. Peace and human rights – no more illegal wars, review arms sales
5. Common ownership – rail, mail, energy, water. End outsourcing of NHS and local government
6. Defend migrants’ rights – full voting rights for EU nationals, defend free movement
7. Strengthen workers’ rights and trade unions – repeal the Trade Union Act
8. Radical devolution of power, wealth and opportunity – regional investment banks, replace House of Lords with an elected chamber within federal system
9. Equality – remove obstacles that limit opportunities and talent
10. Effective opposition to Conservatives - eradicate anti-semitism, maintain link with trade unions

Four years later, very little of this programme has survived.

Before the leadership election Sir Keir had campaigned to remain in the EU and was perhaps best known as the architect of the Party’s 2019 policy of holding a second referendum on EU membership. Yet following the general election he declared that EU membership was no longer on the agenda, and that under his leadership Labour would not advocate joining the Customs Union or the Single Market – let alone rejoin the EU itself.

Moreover, not only does Sir Keir appear to lack any values or principles of his own (he was of course a barrister, whose particular skill is to advocate whatever case his client instructs), he shows obvious contempt for the views of Party members. The 2023 Party Annual Conference voted overwhelmingly to replace the current “first past the post” voting system for Westminster elections with a system of proportional representation. Sir Keir’s response was to say that this was “not a priority” and would not figure in the Party’s manifesto for the next Parliament.

Politics should be more than just a process of finding out which policies the most people will vote for – and then claiming that those are your policies. There must be underlying values and principles. I cannot vote for a party whose leader so manifestly lacks such values and principles.


So who will I vote for?


If I cannot vote Labour, what are the alternatives? At the time of writing the full list of local candidates is not available yet, but I assume that in Portsmouth South it will include Labour, Conservatives, LibDems, Reform, Greens and possibly a George Galloway candidate.


The local Labour MP, is a decent and well-liked representative, whom I have worked with and for in the past, but I cannot vote for him this time for all the reasons described above.


I would not entertain the possibility of voting Conservative as they embody privilege and resistance to change and are largely responsible for the current state of the economy and society.


The Liberal Democrats control Portsmouth City Council and have formed a competent administration, but my experience of them elsewhere (especially in Birmingham) is that they are essentially opportunists with no principles of their own (cf. Starmer). In 2010, for the sake of a taste of power, they junked their electoral promises and sided with the Conservatives in the Coalition Government. So they too are a NoNo.

Little needs to be said about Reform, who are simply the right wing fringe of the Conservatives.

George Galloway’s Party (or whatever it will be called) is a vehicle for expressing solidarity with Palestine and outrage at Sir Keir Starmer’s endorsement of the Israeli assault and blockade of Gaza. However, that is not sufficient for a serious governing party.


That leaves the Greens. Climate change is by far the most important issue facing the UK electorate (and the world), and I support their advocacy of “zero carbon” by the 2030s – even if it does mean higher taxes and a drop in living standards. However, I do have reservations about some of their other policies. In the past they have been ambivalent about EU membership and in Scotland they support independence.

So none of the parties fully deserves my vote and I feel somewhat disfranchised. At the time of writing I am hesitating between voting Green and spoiling my ballot paper.

The best outcome would be a hung Parliament, with the LibDems, Greens and SNP combining to support a minority Labour government in return for changing the voting system to a form of proportional representation.  But, as Margaret Thatcher once famously said, you can't vote for a hung Parliament.

At least we can hope.

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NB - This article was written before the publication of the party manifestoes for the 2024 election