My decision to join the Labour Party at the age of 14 was spurred by a deep-seated desire to spend the precious, fleeting weekday evenings of my youth sitting in many hour-long meetings that dragged painstakingly on until far too late. 'Any Other Business' turning into a rancorous hour-long quarrel a la Question Time obviously brought me untold glee, and searching for a helpful improvement to those bitingly-cold morning bus journeys into school naturally led me to scrolling through passive-aggressive, cross-faction back-and-forths, each laden with enough sass for 50 PMQ sessions. And not to mention the million different WhatsApp channels, chats, broadcasts and communities, each with rules and arguments of their own. Truly a 14 year old’s idea of bliss.
OK - that was just about as believable as you saying you’ll manage eight hours of sleep every night at Conference. More seriously, none of us joined the Party for those reasons. Whether you’re a stalwart member of a decade or a few, or a member electrified by the hope of ‘24, whether you joined after a roof-raising by-election result or because Labour is the best chance of staving off the ever-growing threat of Reform in your community, it’s fair to say that the real reason most of us are here is because we want to have a tangibly positive impact on the lives of working class communities up and down the country. We want to make Britain an even better place to live and work.
This Government is already doing it. Being able to talk to residents on doorsteps about Great British Rail, protections for renters, and free breakfast clubs - three achievements among many - genuinely make those morning canvasses (and being buffeted about by the rain and the wind) worth it. But with our party culture often being one of attrition, one where broaching new ideas feels like a test of endurance and where it feels as though motions are pre-decided and engineered to fit what are often narrow and factionally-aligned agendas, it’s easy to feel demoralised. It’s often one where our brilliant young members or dedicated trade unionists are drowned out, one from which talented campaigners and speakers understandably leave, frustrated by perceived stagnation and exclusion. We lose morale, we lose votes, and we lose the trust of our members and the electorate.
This, coupled with a dire international outlook, illustrates that our movement and Government have never needed to step up to the plate with maturity and confidence more so than now. Toxic, public spats, far-right riots, utterly disturbing numbers in the polls, and looming electoral threats demonstrate that a change is needed. But how do we transform our culture into one where this factional, fractious division is rife, to one built on more co-operation, trust, and mutual respect?
Firstly: collaboration across all levels of our Party. From Branch to Government, it’s no use simply imposing a culture change. It must be practiced and collaborative. And it’s certainly not about overhaul. Rather, it's about working together to make small, achievable changes.
Secondly: we must take time to listen. Our young members in particular are the beating heart of our Party: Young Labour members and Labour Students knock thousands of doors each year, whilst making time for jobs, studying, and a social life that extends somewhat further than the customary post-canvass pub visit. But specifically through my interactions with young members, I see growing apathy and disconnect, with a prevalent sense that the Party, from grassroots to government, isn’t taking note of or taking action on pertinent issues. To leave for the Greens, or to leave politics altogether, walking away from not being listened to or valued, is naturally appealing. With swathes of Labour’s vote share threatened, and the trust of young people rapidly breaking, the solution is to start with simply listening - not only to young members, but trade unionists and members across all areas of the Party. Not doing this loses us votes, but crucially also talent and novel ideas.
And, of course, agreeing on everything we hear is not possible - far from it. But after listening, we do need to learn to argue better. None of the fractures and arguments experienced within Labour since 1900 were solved by refusing to compromise and reaching stalemates. A pluralistic, collaborative debate using what we all agree on as a base, instead of bringing pre-determined motions before branches and CLPs, is healthier and fairer. Rigid, unoriginal paragraphs without any room for debate or improvement do not make us stronger, instead shutting out talented members, stifling conversation and narrowing the passion for our movement. Policy weakens, members don’t feel listened to, they leave and, again, we lose the trust of the electorate.
Next, we need to be honest about how our internal structures and habits more generally either bring people in or quietly push them out. A party’s culture is not only decided by arguments and factionalism. It’s how meetings are run, how accessible information is, and whether all members can contribute confidently. If doing so requires mastering pages of standing orders, decoding those inexplicable, unwritten factional rules, or having the confidence to wade into deeply splintered debates, we shouldn’t be surprised when talented campaigners disengage. And a party that people want to stay in is one that is more diverse, more experienced, more fair - not to mention, far better placed to win and to govern.
We’re at our best when we fight for our constituents in Parliament, and when we share ideas and work together using what unites us. A Labour Government is integral to solving the problems that Britain - and the world - is faced with. But this is all impossible if the atmosphere in our [arty is fractious and tense. And while fixing it won’t be easy, neither was the founding of the NHS; but if we managed that without quite so many WhatsApp groups and 280-character quarrels, I think we can manage this.
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Maya Desai is an Undergraduate Student and has been a Young Labour member for almost 5 years and the Chair of West Midlands Young Labour for 2.
All blog posts represent the views of the author alone and not necessarily those of Mainstream.
