Compass members can receive 30% off all variants of Anushka Asthana’s Taken As Red until 3rd November at midnight. Find out how at the bottom of this blog post.
When I was investigating Keir Starmer’s route to Downing street – one of things that struck me as most intriguing was when Morgan McSweeney turned up at Dartington Hall, Totnes, in November 2019, for a Compass strategy away weekend.
The visit underlined the first part of a long strategy from the man who is now Starmer’s chief adviser in Downing street, and who helped to mastermind the 2024 election victory.
In Totnes, McSweeney was looking for serious figures in or around the Labour movement who were – as one person put it to me – either on the radical edge of the ‘soft left’ or the softer end of the ‘radical fringe’. He believed that they were the key to ousting Corbynism from the party, by building a bridge between these activists and his own more centrist tribe.
Among the figures who McSweeney was keen to woo was the then head of Momentum, Laura Parker (who was later persuaded to back Keir Starmer) and Compass executive director, Neal Lawson (who was less convinced from the start) .
By then, McSweeney, along with key allies such as Steve Reed, knew that it would be impossible to oust Jeremy Corbyn from the Labour party, but were convinced that with the right candidate (and I suspect they already had Starmer in their sights by then) they could take control of the party leadership and oust Corbynism in the future.
They knew that Labour’s membership was pro-Corbyn but also anti-Brexit – making the loyal-appearing shadow Brexit candidate, the perfect man for the job.
In my book – Taken as Red – I trace their efforts from the start and reveal the sheer extent of a strategy that I’ve heard spoken about in very different ways. To some McSweeney and Starmer’s political journey looked like strategic brilliance that saved the Labour party, to others it was duplicitous as it sought to woo the left, only to shift the party significantly away from those values at a later stage.
And in the campaign itself, the ruthless strategy went further, not just distancing themselves from Corbyn but booting him out of the party, taking central control over selections, relentless targeting of resources, and the so-called ‘Ming-vase’ strategy over policy.
Figures like Parker were left deeply disappointed. Others – even those close to the original project – criticised where it ended up – with one arguing that Starmer had let the “hard right” take control of the party. But supporters made clear that it was necessary to win.
But is that true?
In some ways, the speed at which Labour in Government has got into trouble with voters, suggests that perhaps the caution went a step too far in opposition. Was it really necessary to rule out raising any of the four taxes that make up 75% of revenues? As a result, Rachel Reeves will be looking to extract revenue from a much smaller pot, with a higher risk of impacting on future investment. Moreover, the party claimed it would not even need to raise those taxes, when it was clear that spending demands would go further than those set out in the manifesto (regardless of the additional £22bn spending they have highlighted since).
Some in Downing Street are holding their nerve, arguing that the sheer size of their majority means political stability, which will allow the party to overcome the early stumbles over winter fuel payments, and the freebie-scandal.
That is true, things are rarely as bad in politics as they feel at the time.
But as I outline in my book – the majority is both strategically brilliant but also incredibly fragile. McSweeney’s efficiency drive (which he learnt over many years including in local election races in Lambeth back in 2006) delivered two thirds of seats with one third of votes. But as a result – many of the majorities are extremely narrow and will be hard to defend, particularly if the Tories are able to win back Reform UK and/or Lib Dem voters. Moreover, voter volatility has reached new heights.
Labour understands that. Just weeks after the win, Paul Ovenden – the head of political strategy – briefed the Cabinet over the summer to explain that the Reform UK surge turned their healthy majority into a landslide. He warned that they could not be complacent – and should consider themselves as nil-nil in the political race. And that is already how it feels to Conservatives who were more buoyant at their conference in Birmingham than Labour were in Liverpool. In 2024 – politics moves at a pace that we have rarely seen before.
Anushka Asthana is the Deputy Political Editor at ITV News. Her new book, “Taken As Red: How Labour Won Big and the Tories Crashed the Party” is out now and available to buy here.
Compass members can receive 30% off all variants of Anushka Asthana’s Taken As Red until 3rd November at midnight.
If you are a member, please email members@compassonline.org.uk to be sent the discount code. If you are not yet a member, please join here for the discount code for this book, and access to our Reading Room, where you can listen to 12 member-exclusive podcasts a year on new and classic texts, as well up to 50% off the featured books with every drop of episodes. The latest round of the Reading Room features Colin Crouch, Jon Cruddas, and Nick Dearden.