How does Labour win again?

Last night Compass debated the election aftermath at a packed meeting.

How does Labour win again? A poignant question after the election disaster on Thursday. It was this question that an esteemed panel - Jon Cruddas MP; David Lammy MP; Jennette Arnold AM; Steve Richards, The Independent; John Harris, The Guardian and chaired by Jackie Ashley, The Guardian - came together to discuss in front of a filled Committee Room 14 in Westminster yesterday.

The discussion was started by David Lammy MP, who stated his fear that, 11 years into power, Labour may not be hungry enough to win. He called for a wider vision, wider story and passion.

Lammy was followed by John Harris, who argued that these are new times and we need a new language. We need to decide what kind of society we want to live in.

Jackie Ashley then asked Jennette to respond to David Lammy and asked if Labour still had the appetite to win. Jennette answered confidently that of course we had the appetite and that in her constituency the Labour vote came out, because of her local constituencies dedicated campaigning. Reminding us all on the necessity of local ground level campaigning and activity.

Steve Richards went on to astutely describe what he saw as the anti-Tory coalition splintering to be replaced by a strong and growing anti-Labour feeling. Yet the electoral dynamic is dangerous and the policy opportunity interesting. It is now down to Gordon to find the language to bring this together - Bravery is needed.

Jon Cruddas MP identified the rupture between the current terms of the debate and the demands for regulation and radicalism. What happened last week didn't drop out of the sky, and we all know it. We need to ask how do we put it together again. To do this we must develop a more sophisticated understanding of the Tories - we need to understand how Boris - an Eton educated fop - beat Ken, a passionate and outstanding politician with a proven record of success. The response can't be more of the same, and like David Lammy, he said fundamentally we must define what sort of society we want to create, and if we don't, we are free fall.

Neal concluded the debate, stating we are no longer willing to wait for this vision and these policies that Brown has been promising. We need the progressive consensus he called for in 2004 now.

To achieve this Compass is simultaneously launching the a narrative, a vision, on The Challenge of Living in the 21st Century, and what will be the biggest policy and ideas creation process the country has ever seen. This will engage every section of the Labour movement and those beyond, it will work with progressives outside of Labour and political system in NGOs, pressure groups, academics, unions, communities, and other think-tanks. These policy ideas will then be put to a vote, and we will go out and campaign on those selected. This is not about the Labour party, or even the left, this is about deciding what society we want to live in, and then going out and campaigning on it.

Zoe Gannon, Compass