The Wardman Wire

I’ve been at a bit of a loss as to what to say about the continuing debacle of the Labour leadership, except that - counting the ones that are coming off - I never knew it had quite so many wheels to start with. What’s it going to be next?

However, Alex Hilton has given me the words on a thread about the departure of the latest General Secretary (Peter Watt):

I don’t think the membership decline is Peter’s fault, more likely reflective of the party’s popularity in government since 97.

Quite (unintentionally?) ironic. That number has been ticking down for a number of years - currently it is down by about 65-70% from its peak.

I think they need at least 5 (and perhaps 10) years out of government to sort themselves out and find some organisational integrity from somewhere.

For my money, that integrity will probably have to come from the pre-Blair or post-Blair generations (perhaps pre-Campbell and post-Campbell is a better description).

Speculating (slightly) too early, perhaps the implication is that Jack Straw or someone of his generation will be a caretaker leader after the implosion of Gordon Brown.

Perhaps there needs to be a new politics within Labour based on grassroots co-operative movements - as opposed to the activist driven agendas we see in the Trades Unions.

Tags: wheels come off, labour party

[tags]wheels come off, labour party[/tags]