The Mirror might be trying to cheer us up, but this article made me feel a bit sick. Just seven seats and under 1000 votes in total made the difference between a Tory majority and a minority government. Let that sink in - a thousand votes across seven constituencies.
Looking more closely at the outcome in those seats is even more troubling, particularly in the context of the current battles within Labour.
If the current crop of potential leaders is to be believed, the problem for Labour was that it presented a programme that was 'anti business' and/or failed to reach out to the 'aspirational middle class'. It doesn't account for the legions of voters who went to UKIP or other 'progressive'parties - not the Tories.
The LibDem collapse does fill out the Labour vote in some areas - but it was cancelled out by those who took their vote to UKIP. Ordinary working class people who were mesmerised by the UKIP rhetoric or the 'progressives' who said that Labour doesn't stand for ordinary people any more.
My heart is sinking as I watch the candidates for the Labour leadership vie for our votes. It's heart breaking. Almost as heartbreaking as May 8th. After the election, one Labour big noise after another appeared on TV to tell us that it was the Ed Factor that did for us or that the party had moved too far to the left. I read somewhere that the party had seen a bit of a surge in membership recently. That suggests to me that there's a lot of us out here that liked the direction that the party was moving in.
But everyone seemed to be in agreement that the party should spend a bit of time analysing what went wrong. I couldn't agree more - but I have an uneasy feeling that 'finding out what went wrong' is rapidly becoming 'we've already decided what went wrong so don't you worry your pretty little head about it. We might even tell you some day. In the meantime, aspiration'
If I hear the word 'aspiration' one more time, I will vomit.
The problem seems to be that someone in Party HQ has decided that the reason Labour didn’t win the election is that they didn’t appeal to business and Waitrose shoppers . The party, in this story, didn't connect with the aspirations of a certain kind of person. They have arrived at this conclusion by… erm… not really sure. But one thing is certain, 'aspiration' will be a key feature in this campaign.
Worryingly, 'senior party figures' started on the aspiration narrative only a day after the full horrors of the results became clear. Dan Jarvis, in ruling himself out of the leadership race touched on aspiration as one of the reasons for the catastrophic result.
The leadership hopefuls have been aspiring all over the place. First out of the aspirational blocks was Chuka Umuna who thought the party didn't speak to 'aspirational middle class' voters. Sadly we didn't get to see how Chuka would handle the aspiration discussions.
Current front runner Andy was aspiring when he announced that he was running. Liz Kendall aspired in a different way, by pointing out that in some places outside Westminster, aspiration actually means something. It's not just a 'Thick of It' buzzword. Mary Creagh thought that Labour doesn't understand peoples' aspiration to have a better life. Finally, Yvette Cooper has decided that Labour needs to generate 'optimism' which admittedly is better than 'aspiration' but is a long way short of a principled, political platform.
It's not a new thing. Writing in 2011, Dan Jarvis (remember him?) was writing about aspiration in Total Politics. There is, he wrote, " there is deep-rooted problem with aspiration"
And he's not wrong. There truly is a deep-rooted problem with aspiration. The main problem is, as Mary Creagh alluded to, it means nothing. I have never in my life met someone who didn't aspire to better things. Everyone - working class, middle class, rich, poor, homeless, mansion dweller, working, unemployed - they all aspire to better things. What happens though is that they don't have the framework to build on their aspirations.
I'd like to put forward an alternative to aspiration. Inspiration.
Aspiration is such a passive, individualist thing. Inspiration on the other hand is much more proactive and much more collective. In inspiring someone, you're saying 'I know you want to have a better life. Here are the things that will make it happen'
I'd like the Labour Party to inspire us, all of us, together. I'd like to see a Labour Party story that tells people that by working together and sharing the spoils, everyone gets to aspire and achieve. I would like them to talk about all the positive things that they can do. Instead of buying into and reinforcing the 'scrounger' narrative, I would like to hear about the right to work. We used to fight for the right to work. Now it's assumed and endlessly repeated, that ordinary folk don't want to work.
I'd like to hear the party talk about the right to a home - a safe, secure, affordable home, not 'getting on the property ladder'
I'd like to hear the party talk about the right to an education, and grants, right through to third level for those who are capable of and interested in academia. I'd like to see proper paid apprenticeships or meaningful training for those who want it. on offer that train people to do the jobs that the country needs done.
I'd like to see undergraduate and post graduate courses, alongside the apprenticeships, that will put everyone,regardless of their age, at the forefront of skills and innovation.
I'd like to see the party demand the right to good quality healthcare provided by skilled and valued health workers.
I'd like to see the party demand the right to good quality, accessible public services that are provided on the basis of need and not 'the business case'.
In short, I want to see the Labour party take up the challenge thrown down by the kippers and the 'progressive' parties.I would like them to inspire us first and then fight for our aspirations - not by assuming that we all want to shop in Waitrose but by assuming that, if the framework to achieve great things is there, our aspirations will become our achievements.
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