On the eve of their first \u201cvirtual\u201d party conference, Labour have unveiled their new slogan: \u201cA New Leadership\u201d.<\/p>\n
It replaces \u201cUnder New Management\u201d, a phrase Sir Keir Starmer has been using since July, initially at Prime Minister\u2019s Questions, to distance himself from the previous leadership\u2019s position on Russia and national security.<\/p>\n
Sir Keir\u2019s strategists feel that this was a little too backward-looking \u2013 defining him simply as Not Jeremy Corbyn \u2013 and that the new form of words will have wider appeal.<\/p>\n
A lot of weight will be placed on the short slogan\u2019s shoulders.<\/p>\n
First, it is designed to contrast favourably with Boris Johnson\u2019s leadership \u2013 and build on Sir Keir\u2019s sustained attempt to portray the current government as lacking competence.<\/p>\n
Second, it dovetails with Labour\u2019s plan to \u201cintroduce\u201d Sir Keir to the country.<\/p>\n
This intended phase of his leadership, it is felt, hasn\u2019t been fully realised due to the coronavirus crisis.<\/p>\n
And insiders stress his \u201cnew\u201d approach won\u2019t simply be different from Mr Corbyn\u2019s \u2013 but from Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, too.<\/p>\n
He may be helped in this when an internal inquiry \u2013 under the chairmanship of barrister Martin Forde, and independent from the party hierarchy \u2013 reports later this year.<\/p>\n
It is likely to call for a change in the party\u2019s \u201cculture\u201d, with criticisms of both staunch opponents and supporters of the Corbyn era.<\/p>\n
This will allow Sir Keir to claim he is making a fresh start.<\/p>\n
Third, it will be deployed to try to eliminate a negative.<\/p>\n
While he may not have been fully introduced to the electorate, the good news for Sir Keir Starmer is that his personal ratings are positive.<\/p>\n
For example, at the start of this month YouGov\u2019s polling suggested 42% of voters felt he was doing a good job as Labour leader while far fewer \u2013 26% \u2013 felt he was doing badly.<\/p>\n
That said, for 32% of voters the jury is out \u2013 hence the need for Sir Keir re-introduce himself to voters.<\/p>\n
The bad news for Starmer is that while he has made a relatively positive impression since becoming Labour leader in March, the party has been lagging behind the Conservatives in most polls.<\/p>\n
As one Labour insider put it: \u201cThe brand has been trashed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The aim now is to bring the party\u2019s standing closer to Starmer\u2019s.<\/p>\n
So the new branding \u2013 which will be used on party platforms and online content \u2013 is intended to convey a sense of collective leadership.<\/p>\n
The Labour Connected event \u2013 the party\u2019s virtual conference \u2013 starts on Saturday, and will aim to give a platform to some of the shadow cabinet who are seen as potentially strong performers, including Angela Rayner, Lisa Nandy, and Nick Thomas-Symonds.<\/p>\n
There will be major speech from the Shadow Chancellor, Anneliese Dodds.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hoped the new team will become more familiar faces to voters in the months ahead.<\/p>\n
So much for the personnel. The late Tony Benn used to say \u201cit\u2019s about policies, not personalities\u201d.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m told there will be announcements over the next few days.<\/p>\n
But the main purpose of the event will be to set out a vision rather than get dragged into the detail four years from an election.<\/p>\n
Although it\u2019s a virtual conference, the party leader will get out and about to deliver his speech on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
He will be in Yorkshire \u2013 possibly in a seat that survived the Conservative onslaught on the Red Wall, but pretty close to the debris.<\/p>\n
He will make it clear that Labour\u2019s task of rebuilding will begin on this territory.<\/p>\n
But while regaining the trust of those who, until recently, backed the party is an essential pre-condition for winning power, Starmer knows it won\u2019t be enough on its own.<\/p>\n
So seats which to the Conservatives at Labour\u2019s earlier election defeats, such as those in south-east England, will also be his focus.<\/p>\n
Hopes of recovery also depend on doing at least a bit better in Scotland, which he visited for the first time since becoming leader this week.<\/p>\n
But the more immediate priority is to stem further losses in next year\u2019s Holyrood election.<\/p>\n
Although Starmer\u2019s strategists are emphasising fresh, forward-facing leadership, it seems clear that when he delivers his speech, the greatest contrast will be with the Corbyn era.<\/p>\n
He will set out his vision for the UK \u2013 the kind of country he wants to see, the kind of country it can be.<\/p>\n
He won\u2019t be as much waving the Red Flag as the Union Jack.<\/p>\n
He will try to convince those who have abandoned the party that their values and his have much in common.<\/p>\n
So there will be an emphasis on patriotism.<\/p>\n
And the content is likely to be influenced by the Labour leader\u2019s director of policy Claire Ainsley, former head of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation think tank and author of the New Working Class.<\/p>\n
She has said values espoused by \u201cworking-class\u201d voters span the Remain\/Leave divide and can be summarised thus: \u201cFamily, fairness, hard work and decency\u201d, or as one commentator put it, \u201cflag, forces, family\u201d.<\/p>\n
But she also argues that the nature of \u201cthe working class\u201d has changed as the economy has changed, as identity politics \u2013 rather than social class \u2013 have become more prominent.<\/p>\n
The new working class, she says, are more diverse and respond to signals that a political party is \u201con their side\u201d, rather than appeals to old class labels.<\/p>\n
So expect to witness Starmer the signalman in his conference speech.<\/p>\n
Some on the party\u2019s left, however, fear that Starmer is on the wrong track.<\/p>\n
They see the perspiration \u2013 working hard to build up credibility against the Conservatives \u2013 but worry about a lack of inspiration.<\/p>\n
Others simply want to see more evidence that his talk of \u201cvalues\u201d is not a precursor to ditching some of the radical policies both he and the party previously espoused.<\/p>\n
The Socialist Campaign Group\u2019s membership includes Jeremy Corbyn, the former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, and the former shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott.<\/p>\n
It will be holding a \u201cvirtual rally\u201d of around 2,500 Labour members during the conference.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s secretary, former frontbencher Richard Burgon, told the BBC: \u201cIt is important that the party uses the conference to go beyond criticizing the government\u2019s incompetence \u2013 and now lays out the policies to defend people hit hard by this unprecedented job and public health crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starmer\u2019s supporters say he has a \u201crelentless\u201d focus on winning.<\/p>\n
That will mean not just putting the party under new leadership, but about how that leadership is exercised.<\/p>\n
So far he has been radical in shaking up his shadow cabinet and in making changes to the party\u2019s backroom operation.<\/p>\n
The bigger challenge, in due course, will be in selecting a small number of symbolic policies to signal to voters where he stands \u2013 and abandoning others.<\/p>\n
His support amongst members appears to be wide, but this process will reveal whether it\u2019s deep.<\/p>\n
Keir Starmer\u2019s Conservative opponents have already made up his mind about his leadership.<\/p>\n
A spokesman said he \u201coffered the same tired and out of touch politics as Jeremy Corbyn\u201d.<\/p>\n
Starmer\u2019s team will be hoping his target voters give him a hearing \u2013 and reach a different conclusion in due course.<\/p>\n