Georgia Pactor: “A vote for Labour is an emotional vote, sourced from a belief in socialism”
It is undeniable that Labour has lost its way with the blue-collar worker vote they once had. Whether this is down to Blair’s shift to the political centre-ground , or Miliband’s attempt to woo hard-left voters with socialist rhetoric, they just aren’t cutting it with aspirational voters.
In September 2013, Miliband planned to ‘bring socialism back to Britain’, yet again misunderstanding the electorate. In a lot of cases, a vote for Labour is an emotional vote, sourced from a belief in socialism: it’s not a vote for their policies, it’s not a vote for an economic plan, it’s an ideological vote. Sure, I wholeheartedly believe in Conservatism, however after the recession, people are struggling financially, and simply cannot afford to vote based on a theory. Voters need to see a clear plan of how Britain’s economic recovery is going to continue, and how a party will protect individual interests over an ideological ideal. This is especially relevant for those people who Labour deem to be working class.
For many years, people have been misled into believing that Labour are the party fighting for the rights of the working classes – mainly because Labour were successful in convincing them of it. It isn’t fair to say that these voters were naïve in adhering to this view as after all, most of the people they surrounded themselves with were also being convinced of the same thing. We must also remember that it wasn’t as socially acceptable as it is now to have differing political views to your peers. So to vote for who you were told would best represent you, seemed like the most commonsensical option.
But tribal-like voting behaviour is under threat and Labour knows it.
Politics has never been more accessible to everyone than it is today. Voters can at the touch of a button become politically educated and make a reasoned judgment on what each party has to offer them. People growing up in Labour-voting families often didn’t even think to vote for any other party because it just wasn’t an option to them, due to fear of going against their family’s beliefs. People from all walks of life are now choosing to vote different ways because society on a whole is far more mobile and voting differently to your peers is no longer as much of a big deal.
The Conservative Party have always championed ambition, drive and the importance of a strong worth ethic in order to achieve. Many aspirational people work extremely hard, and deserve to see the reward from it. Through policies such as ‘Help To Buy’, almost 100,000 people now have a home of their own. In contrast, Labour are the party that created a culture that made it acceptable for people to live off the state, all with no plan to encourage those individuals back into work. To a working person, the fact somebody is allowed to do no work at all and gain a similar amount of money per month, is a massive insult. Perhaps another reason for the loss of their appeal amongst hard working people.
Regardless of the reasoning behind the decline of Labour’s paramount vote source, it is great to see the fact that despite all the scaremongering they have done over the years, everyday working people are no longer afraid to go against it.
To write in terms of class politics is difficult, especially when the class system is not as prevalent as it once was. It has been argued that the reason Labour always refer back to it in the majority of arguments, is to remind people of their own class. This stems from the illusion that if Labour convinces enough people that they owe them something, they will automatically get their vote. Telling people they have the opportunity to succeed, and achieve what they want in life by working for it, and without conforming to any ‘class’, I believe is a far greater message to be sending.
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