Don’T Enquire What Lost, Enquire What Won

I took a brusk interruption afterwards the election, thence I managed to avoid most of the immediate post-election analysis. But I could non avoid seeing some Labour people complaining close how Labour’s defeat was because they vacated the middle the world as well as went for a pith vote strategy. This seems really odd. In damage of ‘vacating the middle ground’, I thought it was pretty obvious that occupying it was the master copy Liberal Democrat strategy, as well as that didn’t become equally good well. In damage of a pith vote strategy, it seems to me this applied at to the lowest degree equally much to the Conservative campaign.

Rather than Labour as well as Liberal Democrat people bespeak what they did wrong, they should enquire what the Conservatives did right. What they did correct had really picayune to produce with actual Conservative policies, beyond financial sweeteners mainly directed to their pith voters. Instead it was close attacking their opponents inward areas where - for whatever argue - their opponents failed to combat back.  

In damage of Labour, the Conservative movement mainly focused on iii themes: how inadequate Ed Miliband would live equally Prime Minister, how bad Labour’s macroeconomic policies had been when they were terminal inward government, as well as how Labour would live ‘held to ransom’ past times the SNP. With all iii of these, the arguments were non based on clear objective facts, but on political spin.

As Peter Oborne has observed, Miliband’s functioning equally Labour leader had indicated a position out of positive qualities which propose he could also remove maintain been a expert Prime Minister. However he is no Cameron or Blair, as well as the Conservative auto managed to spin this unfamiliarity equally a weakness. H5N1 minority Labour regime backed past times the SNP would remove maintain been unusual, but would it actually remove maintain been thence much to a greater extent than unstable equally this regime volition live given how carve upward it is on the EU? This inquiry was never asked inward the pop debate, which instead managed to galvanise English linguistic communication nationalism against an imagined threat from northward of the border. The Labour business that at that spot would live no deals was inherently defensive, equally good equally beingness unconvincing.       

The distortion on economical policy was peradventure the greatest of the iii pieces of spin. In a post written before the election entitled ‘UK election: it was mediamacro wot won it’ I ended with the next line: “if the coalition regime remains inward ability afterwards this election (or if the Conservatives win outright), as well as thence the championship of this ship service volition remove maintain rather to a greater extent than justification than the Sun’s original headline.” Harvard historians writing macroeconomic nonsense inward Financial Times op-eds afterwards the election shows that the mediamacro work is non close to disappear.  

What the Conservatives achieved was to plow at best half-truths into apparent facts, which as well as thence became the talking points of the media’s coverage of the campaign. The Conservatives won because their spin was thence much ameliorate than their opponents. That is the lesson of the 2015 election, as well as non anything to produce with actual policies.

To many Labour or Liberal Democrats supporters, this declaration volition live really unpalatable. They abhor the thought of political spin, as well as all it represents. I remove maintain a lot of sympathy with that view, but I suspect it may assistance lose elections. In fact, it is in all likelihood much to a greater extent than of import for the middle as well as left to mean value a peachy bargain close political spin, because they remove maintain to overcome the spin auto that is much of the UK of Britain as well as Northern Republic of Ireland press, equally good equally the specific problems associated with mediamacro. Left leaning mean value tanks prefer to focus on policies rather than propaganda, a characteristic less evident inward their correct leaning counterparts, but inward damage of winning an election that is a weakness.

A few of the post-mortems on Labour’s defeat that I remove maintain read suggested they should remove maintain tried to counter the myth of Labour profligacy much before than 2015. Having written for or thence fourth dimension close this myth, I could hardly disagree. I suspect inside the Labour hierarchy the thought was to expect frontward rather than become over the past, but you lot cannot abandon the writing of history to your opponents. However that was non merely 1 error alongside many successes: instead Labour's political spin appeared to live consistently amateur compared to their opponents. While over the adjacent few months the combat volition live close selecting a novel leader who tin recapture or thence of the Blair magic, the truth may live that the to a greater extent than of import chore is to employ a lot to a greater extent than people similar Alastair Campbell.