Friday 6 May 2011

The Progressive Fightback

Saturday 14th May sees the first opportunity for Fabians to debate the election results at our Progressive Fightback conference.

It’s widely disputed what would constitute a progressive vote yesterday, but if you are a progressive, left-leaning Liberal Democrat with a particular passion for electoral reform then it’s not looking very good.

However for the wider movement there are cautious reasons for optimism. Labour will record a double digit jump in their vote share compared to four years ago, they are looking strong in areas that cover key marginal seats and have also secured overwhelming gains in heartlands like Wales and the North East.

Questions about falling further behind the Salmond bandwagon in Scotland and Tory gains in the south – albeit at the expense of the Lib-Dems – are sure to be asked of our keynote speaker Andy Burnham. As Labour’s Election Co-ordinator, he’s recently put the party on General Election alert after splits appeared between coalition cabinet ministers over the past few weeks.

Peter Hain MP will then respond to an audience led session on the future of Labour Party reform and the “Refounding Labour” document. We’ll wrap the day up with our traditional cross-party Fabian Question Time when our audience will be taking our panel to task on the future of electoral reform, how does Labour recover in Scotland and what now for the Lib-Dems?

With more than seven hundred (and rising) new Councillors and over twenty new councils there is no doubting Labour are once more a competitive force, but Tory resistance was strong and their vote held up in large parts of the country. The progressive fightback has begun but there’s a long way to go.

1 comment:

13eastie said...

There is seemingly no end to the denial in Islington!

If this is a "fightback", I'd love to see what capitulation would look like!

The "Progressive Majority" has been unequivocal this week, voting for:

a) More English Tory councils

b) the ejection of Labour and the Libdems from Scotland (possibly forever)

c) absolute rejection of AV

d) wiping of the Lib Dems off the English local government map

The only challenge out there is faced by the Tories: how can they ensure the retention until the next general election by Labour of Ed Miliband, his policy vacuum, and his delusional, patronising assessment of the British electorate?