Restructuring Left Politics in Northern Ireland

Having reviewed the Referendum campaign by the YES campaign, let me now progress to look at the other contests that took place on May 5th.

To me this was a real Jekyll and Hyde election. I was really overjoyed to see how real issues (like Health and Education) took centre stage in the campaigns. However I was also depressed at how, when it came to the end, these all got pushed aside and the old tribal politics of the past came out.

Standing outside a polling station, I heard one Council candidate admitting that if he had been standing for election in England he would have been a Labour candidate - so why wasn't he?

Unfortunately the obvious answer was not that Labour don't stand here - rather it was the section of the community that he belonged to- a victory for Sectarian Politics.

Turkeys do not vote for Christmas. Nearly all the current parties here are relics of the old order. And more importantly the same old test is applied to any party/independent that dares to stand - But are you Nationalist or Unionist? And the truth is that in the Assembly Election at least this matters in the outcome, because of the way the Assembly is constructed.

The Alliance and the Greens would seem to be the examples that disprove the rule - But despite their denials the Alliance is usually (if unfairly) regarded as "soft" Unionist, leaving just the Greens.

So how can we bring true Left wing politics to Northern Ireland?

The political experiment that Cameron's Tories undertook in 2010 shows how not to do it. The Northern Ireland parties will not be reformed from within. The old orders are too well entrenched. We have come a long way from when people like Gerry Fitt and Paddy Devlin could insist that "Labour" appear in the title of the SDLP. Plus by tying to one of the existing blocs, a large number of potential supporters will be alienated.

There are two choices that remain.

1) Leave it as it is and hope that eventually they will come to their senses and align themselves.

2) introduce candidates aligned on the Left-Right axis, but neutral on the issue of the Union.

Well 1) is obviously nonsense (turkeys ... Christmas remember?) so the answer is 2) ?

This is where the Greens have led the way. Admittedly their structure has probably made this easier, but the lesson for the rest of the Left is obvious.

The Labour Party has long held together many disparate elements, supporting all sides of the Northern Ireland issue. In order to do that they have consistently refused to stand in Northern Ireland - despite the long association between Labour and these parts. But in today's multi party politics under STV, and with the oft expressed demand of members here to be allowed to stand, it is clear, to me at least, that this must now be reconsidered and candidates put in place.

Success may not come fast, but remember that in the 1892 election in the UK when independent Labour first stood they only gained 1% of the vote and no seats, yet within 32 years they were the Government.

So for me a simple conclusion... Labour must stand candidates... not to destroy other parties, but to reform the politics to the real issues.

Starting Off... Democracy and all that jazz!

OK to start with you need to understand where I come from... I live in Northern Ireland but have for a long time been fed up with politics here. For those unfamiliar with our particular brand of politics it basically has revolved for the past how many decades over "the border question"- should we be part of a united Ireland, or should we remain a part of the UK? Since these are mutually exclusive options this has created a real impasse that has stopped the real issues being properly dealt with.

My family was basically a pro Labour family who rejected this question as not helpful. I was encouraged to think for myself, and British politics was a regular part of conversation at the dinner table. My first real awareness of politics was about the time of the SDP, and I felt this was an exciting new party who would, with the help of the Liberals, break the mould and bring real political reform. As every one knows this did not happen. However now one issue had begun to dominate my own views. To me it was not just good enough to implement good left wing policies- the system was clearly broken and this needed to be fixed. While I was aware that there were groups in both Labour and the Tories who wanted voting reform etc, at this point it seemed to me that the SDP, and then the Liberal Democrats, best represented my opinion.

So when I went to University in Wales I joined the Liberal Democrats. Needless to say this just increased the conversations at home! My experiences of the Welsh Liberal Democrats left me realising how they were really a coalition of three types - (1) the old Liberals, (2) Labourites driven out by the actions of the hard left, and (3) some Tories who disliked Thatcher.
Since returning to Northern Ireland in the mid nineties I have essentially been an observer of politics instead of an active member of it. As Labour reformed itself under New Labour I got concerned. While New Labour had obvious strong roots in the Labour tradition, and had many good policies, they also gave off a strong reek of the Tory party mk.II. their policies in some areas ... for example in the area of civil liberties were not just worrying... but inconceivably opposed to the Labour ideal. Not Power to the People, but Power to the State!

Of course politics here have changed under New Labour as well. Devolution has made the parties here face up to the issues they had previously not had the chance to work with. It has to be said that they have not had a great record of success. For all the changes there have been , the voices of the extremes of Unionism and Nationalism have only grown stronger.

So last year I took a big decision. Having got involved in the Union at work- again following in a bit of a family tradition- I took a fresh look at Labour and realised that it HAD changed and that the time had come for me to join it...( I almost typed rejoin as that would be closer to the truth, but since I was never an actual member in the first place....). OK they still weren't quite so keen as I am on the reforms I think necessary, but they certainly were the best option. And as well as that after so many years in denying people here the right to join, we now have a real presence here.

So this election I have had to correct many friends etc when they thought I would be delighted at Clegg's performance. My initial reaction (given to friends but not posted online) that it was a flash in the pan that would not change things proved in the long term to be correct. However I was also wrong when I expected a '92 type situation in favour of Labour being the largest party. Some you win, some you lose.

And now what... we stand at a historic moment in the party. New Labour is over, but not forgotten. despite being a party deeply versed in democracy, we are viewed by many voters as the defenders of unelected patronage. We are entering , whether you like it or not, the era of New Politics. The Tories in 1997 failed to recognise the effect of New Labour and spent 13 years in the wilderness because of it. each time they moved quickly to put a leader in place and in each case failed to properly prepare for the forthcoming opposition and election.

We cannot allow ourselves to fall into the same trap. This is a time of flux and we will see many former Lib Dems joining us as they realise how betrayed they are by joining the coalition. We don't have to have a quick contest... we can take our time and get it right. This won't weaken the leader- on the contrary it will only make them stronger. As well as that we need a comprehensive review of policy and effective opposition to the coalition government. So much of what they are doing is a betrayal not just of their supporters but also of the basic democratic principles of our country. A clear example of this is the 55% rule- forget the difference between confidence motions and dissolution motions - this figure is a clear bid by the Tories to protect themselves.

So a plea to the national executive. think carefully and don't rush. Set a sensible timetable that will allow us to choose the right leader for the new decade, and to have a truly democratic debate about it.