Will Labour's mission to Break Down Barriers finally deliver the promise of levelling up?
As election day in Britain draws ever closer and Labour’s lead shows no sign yet of weakening, the political forecasting industry is switching from debating whether Labour will win to the size of the incoming Labour government’s majority.
As a natural pessimist, I held on to the idea that there might be a narrow route to victory for the Conservatives for longer than most, wondering if they might be able to snatch at least a draw with a tightly-focused Australian-style campaign which focused on immigration and dialled up the risk that might be posed from an incoming Labour party that had so recently been in the clutches of the Corbynite far left.
But such a campaign would require resolve and discipline at all levels from the Conservatives in Parliament. Instead, too many Tory MPs are behaving like the election is already lost, or even like they want to lose their governing majority so they can settle a score with their leader after the turmoil and infighting of recent years.
Even if the party suddenly came to its senses and decided to pull together and fight a united campaign, they may well find that the public has already stopped listening.
Thus, attention is turning to how Labour will govern. How will the party seek to change the country in these incredibly trying circumstances, when national finances are under great strain and faith in politics and politicians is at a low ebb? And how might it react in the face of an uncertain geopolitical landscape that impacts our economy and society?
From conversations with the members of our Coalition, I would say purpose-led businesses tend to be broadly optimistic about the impending new government, with a natural touch of apprehension. Their optimism is driven partly by the growing sense that it is simply time for a change, that the current governing party has turned in on itself and run out of energy, so something new is a necessary and welcome refresh. But also, the drive to connect with businesses shown by Sir Keir Starmer, Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and Shadow Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, is generating real hope and enthusiasm – particularly as it stands in contrast to a curious reticence to engage from many Conservative ministers over recent years. The Labour leadership’s offer of a partnership with business contributes to the optimism felt by businesses that they can play a real part in the country's recovery.
The apprehension comes partly from people wondering if the business-friendly instincts that Starmer, Reeves, Reynolds and others are projecting in opposition will hold fast in government. Will the innate suspicion of private enterprise that has always pervaded parts of the wider Labour party colour its approach, particularly if the party ends up with a small governing majority and has the constant threat of rebellion from its already unruly left flank in the House of Commons?
But the greater sense of uncertainty comes from the lack of clarity over what Labour’s programme for government will be and how it will translate its ambition for change into a reality that can genuinely improve people’s lives. There is a mix here of, a) electoral campaign tactics that are making its strategists wary of exposing too much to the glare of a hostile media before the election, capitalising instead on a Tory party that continues to tear itself to pieces in public, and b) the fact that it really is working out what it wants to do at speed as the election approaches. Here, the lasting legacy of the dark Corbyn years should not be under-estimated. Not so much in the sense that it has left an underbelly of extremism in the party – Keir has been genuinely determined and at times ruthless in driving out hard left activists and sympathisers who flocked into the party to make Jeremy Corbyn its leader. Now, a tail of economic leftism does certainly still exist in Labour. Yet it is not a sign of a residual Corbyn threat, rather a strand which has always been there throughout its history – including very much through Tony Blair’s New Labour years.
Rather, the Corbyn legacy manifests as a gap of lost time. When Keir won the leadership after Labour’s seismic defeat in 2019, he inherited a party in shock, a movement which had come close to destruction and was emotionally traumatised and exhausted. Back then, Boris Johnson’s political hegemony appeared to be set in – Labour’s had little hope of winning the next general election after Johnson successfully redrew the political map by smashing the red wall. So, in the minds of a demoralised party, Labour had time to heal, draw breath, rediscover its bearings and moral compass and plan for the long term. Johnson’s spectacular collapse left it realising it could be a party of government within months – a party of government in dire need of a properly worked up plan.
The zeal to which shadow ministers have applied themselves to the task of drawing up a programme for government in short order has been admirable. Keir’s theme of national renewal and his commitment to mission-led government to achieve this gives an often compelling top level narrative.
The zeal to which shadow ministers have applied themselves to the task of drawing up a programme for government in short order has been admirable. Keir’s theme of national renewal and his commitment to mission-led government to achieve this gives an often compelling top level narrative. Fiscal credibility is at the core of its economic policies and, just this week, Rachel Reeves has committed Labour to being the party of wealth creation. Its pledge to get Britain building again includes a promise of the biggest boost to affordable housing in a generation. It will create Great British Energy, a new publicly-owned clean power generation company that will cut energy bills, deliver skilled jobs as well as vital energy security. Pledges to review the UK’s pension system, revive reforms to mental health laws that will address existing inequalities and review early years childcare provision all signal a willingness to tackle the things that are holding this country back.
But gaps and question marks remain – not least in the critical issue of how the party will seek to enact its crucial fifth mission of Breaking Down the Barriers to Opportunity, driving much needed economic and social change across communities. What will be the policy levers it relies upon and what will be the precise goals towards which it strives and by which it is measured? What is becoming clear now is that Labour's commitment to breaking down barriers is how it will deliver on the levelling up promise.
Part of this, of course, is the question of whether levelling up – a term embossed on Whitehall by Johnson – will continue to be the framework through which it enacts and communicates its policies. Let me add this to the many political predictions that swirl round in an election year – the Labour government will pull the plug on ‘levelling up’ as an official term in the first week of its administration, or perhaps even in the election campaign preceding it. The Department for Levelling Up will be renamed as part of the machinery of government changes that tend to accompany any new government taking office.
Could this department which has been rebadged and refocused so many times over the decades be given a fresh mission as the Department for National Renewal, with a specific focus on speeding up the transfer of power to local communities? Possibly. Or perhaps it will go back to being the plain old Housing and Local Government department – tasked with devolving power to local areas but stripped of the pretence that it could be the engine for driving change through Whitehall and into the regions in the way that was briefly envisaged when Johnson and Michael Gove published the Levelling Up White Paper. In that scenario, the wider mission of breaking down barriers to opportunities would be spread across government and driven through the traditional engines of Treasury and Downing Street working, hopefully, in tandem.
Whatever the branding and whatever the means of making progress, delivering positive social change will continue to be a key focus for the next Labour government. It is what draws so many Labour people into frontline politics and is a crucial yardstick by which any government of the left is measured. Look back through the history of Labour governments and you find the introduction of a social security system that continues to support the most vulnerable, a National Minimum Wage to protect low-income workers, the 1970 Equal Pay Act which enshrined the right to pay equality between men and women, the Sure Start initiative aimed at giving children the best start in life and, of course, the creation of the NHS.
And purpose-led businesses can be sure that they will be asked to take an ever greater role in helping deliver change to communities. They are already connecting with future policymakers, highlighting the best practice that is helping them make a real difference to those where they operate, delivering growth that will make every part of the country better off. The best are also measuring and tracking their work to break down the barriers that hinder that. The Labour Party has signalled that forging a partnership with business and civil society, with the private and public sectors, is the only way forward. As Rachel Reeves herself has said, she expects business to be working with her "from day one on rebuilding our country...in a new era of cooperation, with government and business working hand in hand in the national interest."
Creating a productive dynamic and sense of shared purpose between state and business will be crucial in Labour’s mission to deliver for the public, who are weary of failure, striving for change, and all set to give the party the responsibility of leadership later this year.
