At the time of writing, the six Labour leadership candidates are scrambling to secure nominations from MPs and MEPs in the Parliamentary Labour Party, hoping to reach the magic number 22, which unlocks the next stage of the course. As it stands, with nominations closing on Monday 13th January, Clive Lewis has 4 nominations, with one of them being himself. To put this into context, the favourite Keir Starmer has 68, the left’s big hope Rebecca Long-Bailey has 26, hustings hero Lisa Nandy has 24, and Jess Phillips has – God help us all – 22. Even Emily Thornberry, a fellow outsider despite her time shadowing Boris Johnson as Shadow Foreign Secretary, only has 10. Lewis’ fate looks certain, with the left-wing vote seemingly eluding him, and his progressive platform drowned out thus far by cries of “change or die.” It’s a sad fate for a man who’d not only win favour from the membership, but could also have implemented a forward-thinking attitude into the party, stamping out the tribalism from all sides that so successfully opened the door for the Conservatives in 2019, and moulding Labour into a unified fighting force at all levels.
In the midst of the election, there is one argument that has gone under the radar, forgotten in the midst of Brexit apathy and Corbyn criticism; we have to acknowledge that the current voting system is grossly inadequate, and Labour, a perennial proponent of it, could finally be swayed otherwise, siding with the downtrodden against the political elite. At the last election, Labour gained, to the nearest thousand, 51,000 votes per seat. By the same metric, the Lib Dems got 336,000 and the Greens 866,000 respectively. Parties with widespread support across the country are punished, chastised for having the gall to appeal to a variety of voters. Only one party stands to gain from this system. Coincidentally, the Conservatives only needed 38,000 votes to win a seat. Now is the time for Labour to rewrite the wrongs of the past – we have been complicit in this corruption for far too long. Lewis is the only candidate committed to supporting voting reform, and a shift to proportional representation; in fact, he’s the only candidate committed to challenging political procedure, and we have to sit up and take notice.
Lewis’ plan for reform goes hand in hand with another of his key initiatives: greater cooperation between progressive parties. “Labourism”, as he calls it, has been prominent in the party for an extensive period, with many within holding the view that Labour is the only true forward-facing progressive party, and must stand alone in the fight. It is this attitude that has brought the Party to this point, and its isolationism must end. In this climate of toxicity, we must recognize that our agreements hugely outweigh our differences, and form a broad coalition of like-minded parties to fight on behalf of the people who need collaborative cohesion most of all; political infighting cannot let the Tories win again.
Not only this, but we could finally have the answer to the problem that’s dogged Labour since 1997. Since Blair’s election, Labour has been accused of elitism, with the power base trapped in a “London Bubble”, unwilling or unable to connect with voters outside of the capital, especially in the North. In the last two decades, Labour has taken the Northern vote for granted, and the result – the invitation of Conservatives to seats like Workington, Wrexham and Bishop Auckland – was an inevitability. While I don’t believe we are now obliged to bow to the whims of Northerners, it is clear that their concerns are, for the most part, valid and must be taken seriously. As such, Lewis’ argument that Scottish Labour should have the autonomy to support Scottish independence is a very promising sign. Not only could it lead to greater collaboration with the SNP as part of his progressive coalition, it’s also a step towards decentralisation, and greater self-determination for different regions, ensuring local issues can be tackled effectively, and making sure the Labour Party is always tuned in to people outside of the M25. Clive Lewis would be the reforming presence Labour needs, and I have full faith that, should he somehow gain the nominations required, he would be the candidate most apt to lead a sharp, principled opposition, able to prise Britain from the grip of the Tory dead hand. I can only hope this is uploaded before he’s eliminated.
Keeping Left 