New party, old tricks?
Labour must rebuild politics from the ground up if it is to develop the working class MPs of the future, argues Margaret Mullane
Throughout my time in politics, I have spoken about the poor representation of working-class people in the Labour party. I have consistently been met with a dismissive response. For many, talk of class in politics is “old hat”. My argument is that it runs through the very heart of who we are.
Debate is, of course, a strength, and the question “does it really matter?” needs to be addressed. First, though, we should appreciate the depth of the problem. “Hannah the plumber” was a winning slogan in the Gorton and Denton byelection. This is closely related to the fact that there is not another plumber across the entire Commons. If we look at the occupations of MPs, there aren’t many working-class parliamentarians in general.
For the working class, financial demands often make a career in politics seem unfeasible. If it was hard in the past, I would argue it is even harder now. It can be difficult to define the working class of modern Britain, but living from one payday to the next without security is an obvious indicator. Money is a barrier to success for many working-class people.
Communities like the one I come from and represent have been punished by Tory austerity, put on the backfoot by the pandemic, and face a long road to any kind of meaningful recovery. Schools in working-class communities are often over budget; libraries, closed; grants for FE, gone; and degrees accompanied by years of debt. Working class people are often well represented in local councils, but to take the leap from councillor to MP is very difficult. It isn’t just money; it is also time, another commodity that working class communities have very little of. Where is the path to parliament?
Perhaps, in part, the answer lies in the structure of the Labour party itself. Membership numbers are in decline, and unless you are a councillor with skin in the game, I don’t blame people for cancelling their direct debit. Would you pay £73.68 per year to sit in a freezing cold hall afterwork to discuss politics? I am proud to have been picked through a full selection process by my constituency Labour party (CLP). The support I get from the CLP is humbling. Dagenham and Rainham CLP is like a family, and it has taken years to build the relationships which form the foundations of our operation. Yet in the runup to the 2024 election, we all heard stories of CLPs wanting a local candidate but the party machine having other ideas. Favoured candidates were given seats. They were rarely working class and rarely from the communities they planned to represent.
Upon reflection, I think that the lack of working-class voices in parliament is why many poor decisions, out of step with ordinary people, have been made. Many of us speak to our constituents daily, and as a result get a raw and uncensored understanding of how policies will playout. Going forward Labour must listen, or risk making the same mistakes we made around Brexit. I operate a community model of politics which has a great reach in working class places. The model is built on bottom-up politics, starting with a survey in which I asked my constituents: “What’s up?” Meeting with knitting groups, men’s walking groups, faith groups, mother and toddler groups, dance schools – the list goes on – is key. Politics is seen in action, and then, with a bit of encouragement to stand as a councillor or MP, we see the rise of ordinary people in our politics. Many of my volunteers have joined the Labour party, and many are now councillors.
The new Pride in Place programme is a remarkable opportunity to develop this model. Finally, after someone realised that the streets of Dagenham and Rainham are not, in fact, paved with gold, we were awarded £20m over 10 years to transform one of the most deprived wards in my constituency. This is not going through a council committee or quango; local people will shape their own future.
With the right vision, Labour could rethink the offer to working class communities, and through this new level of empowerment we could create the working-class MPs of the future. The party needs to think about this seriously. My first recommendation is to adopt community politics as I have done. It is the only way to protect our towns and cities from the disaster of Reform and the Greens.
