Divided Labour worries Hain
Former work and pensions secretary Peter Hain has called on Labour to end its divide between “ultras” and “traditionalists”.
Writing for the Progress website, Mr Hain said the party appeared to be polarising between those wanting to target working-class votes and the New Labour “ultras” who prefer courting the “aspirational middle class”.
Mr Hain argues this “offers false choice” because the party should be seeking to win over both.
“There are core voters in every constituency in Britain. It is not possible to form a Labour government by winning key marginal seats where aspirational voters predominate unless core voters turn out,” he writes.
Earlier this month Labour suffered badly in this year’s local elections, losing 331 council seats and control of nine councils.
Welsh Labour did especially badly and Mr Hain believes this reflects the problems the party is suffering at the national level.
“The New Labour ultra assumption that core voters have nowhere else to go is plain wrong: they are staying at home, or voting for minority parties, including, sadly, the BNP,” he adds.
“Equally wrong is the assumption of traditionalists that aspirational voters’ concerns are secondary.”
Mr Hain’s pamphlet proposes a range of ideas to revive Labour in Wales.
He wants the party to concentrate on ‘new’ Wales, seize back the Welsh language agenda from Plaid Cymru and back a Welsh patriotism which is “simultaneously British, European and internationalist”.
“The next challenge for Labour is to be the party, not just of experience, but also of change,” Mr Hain concludes.
“That means we have to change as a party.”
