Best structure forward: Bolstering core support in times of division — Ben Gwalchmai
When a political party begins to splinter and split, what is the best course of action? When that party is based over 4 countries within a nation-state, is there a best-practice model for bolstering core support?
The party in question is our party, Labour — namely, UK Labour. With regards to recent events, is it possible that UK Labour risks losing the Welsh Labour heartlands? Entirely possible. Parts of Wales have been called ‘Labour Country’ but we cannot presume that the madness of Westminster doesn’t affect that country. A madness that’s been clear to see since 2016.
Whether you think the #LabourSplit came because of the UK Labour Leadership not shifting its Brexit position earlier or you think it came because the centre-right of the party felt unheard, it doesn’t really matter. Not really. Not now. What matters is that the split has occurred, we have taken a hit, and recent polling shows that it has affected us in Wales even when The Independent Group is highly unlikely to field candidates in Wales. The latest poll is likely to be a blip but the need for a distinction between Welsh Labour and UK Labour has never been clearer.
I’ve argued before that Welsh Labour and UK Labour need to be Sparring Sisters, ‘…sometimes one leads, sometimes the other, but always they drive on and help one another.’ If we were constituted & registered in Wales, as a sister party — similar to the way the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) is the sister party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) — then we could genuinely say that we are not a part of the madness of Westminster but, rather, our sister party is and we’ll help in any way we can.
This is a way for us to bolster support in times of UK divisions. It lets us share in their success, yet not suffer the dogfight of the UK press. It lets us cauterize any break in the Labour body. Breaks aside, good boundaries make for good relationships.
Much as Roger Awan-Scully has predicted the Balkanization of UK politics in his latest book, this could also go some way to fixing the broken and outdated structures of the way the UK runs — one of the first steps on the way to a fairer, Confederal UK is to constitute the 4 parts of our party as sister parties.
Let’s be a better sister to English, Northern Irish, and Scottish Labour. Let’s plan for a Confederal UK. Let’s register Welsh Labour in Wales so that any future Westminster divisions don’t find their way to Labour Country.
Ben Gwalchmai is a Welsh Labour member and co-founder of Labour for Indy Wales.