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Voters want a change in Labour, not a change to the Conservatives

Alasdair Cresswell
24th July 2009 at 21:40
1 comment

The smiling face of Chloe Smith, beaming into my TV set from Norwich today is no doubt a sight, we will become accustomed to unless the Labour party is prepared to change for the better.

There it is. That word. “Change”. I’m sick of the word. “Revolutionise” is more fitting, especially when applying it to the Labour Party, surely?

On the face of it, this by-election result is a catastrophic loss of a Labour “safe seat”. However, Labour must only be encouraged by the outcome.

Norwich North does not represent a constituency which jumped on the disastrous bandwaggon of “New” Labour in 1997, despite Ian Gibson’s victory coming in that election. The core of the vote that pushed him to 22,153 votes in the 1992 election would make up his successful election in 1997, and re-election in 2001 and 2005.

So where were they on Thursday? 12,656 voters in 2005 stayed away. This is supposed to be in a time when even the most apathetic of voter is meant to be so incensed that pure rage and hatred towards politicians due to the expenses scandal, along with similar emotions being shown towards the Labour party if certain sections of the press are to be believed. Not so it would seem.

Instead, what we have seen, are loyal Labour members who realise the choice is not the Conservatives, staying at home. It is these who have sent the clearest message to the Labour leadership, and the members who selfishly seek to preserve their own personal standing in the party having enjoyed the perks of electoral success following 18 years of damaging Tory governance.

The message being sent by the Labour voters that stayed away in Norwich is clear. They want to see the values and politics represented by Ian Gibson throughout his parliamentary career become wider within the party and politics in general.

Politics, such as scrapping the unfair student top-up fees system, installed by an overly conservative Labour government, are shared by me and you, LRC members and supporters.

So the message being sent by the Norwich non-voters is not just to Gordon Brown. It is to every Labour member. To “revolutionise” their party using whatever it takes. This way, we can prevent all that David Cameron wants and revolutionise the Labour Party and Britain.

Revolutionise!

Tags: by-election (2) | ian gibson (2) | labour party (3) | lrc (3) | norwich (1)

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