BUILDING BRIDGES LESSONS FROM BASSETLAW FOR THE COUNTRY SALLY GIMSON Fabian Society 61 Petty France London SW1H 9EU www.fabians.org.uk Fabian Ideas 652 First published December 2020 ISBN 978-0-7163-0652-8 Editorial director: Kate Murray Assistant editor: Vanesha Singh This pamphlet, like all publications of the Fabian Society, represents not the collective views of the society but only the views of the authors. The responsibility of the society is limited to approving its publications as worthy of consideration within the Labour movement. This publication may not be reproduced without express permission of the Fabian Society. © The Fabian Society 2020 The moral rights of the author have been asserted. British Library Cataloguing in Publication data. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. designbysoapbox.com Printed and bound by DG3, London, UK To find out more about the Fabian Society, the Young Fabians, the Fabian Women’s Network and our local societies, please visit our website at www.fabians.org.uk FABIAN IDEAS NO. 652 BUILDING BRIDGES LESSONS FROM BASSETLAW FOR THE COUNTRY SALLY GIMSON INTRODUCTION 2 Lessons from Bassetlaw SUMMARY 4 CHAPTER 1 6 From the grassroots CHAPTER 2 13 On the edge CHAPTER 3 20 An offer for the countryside CHAPTER 4 24 The importance of connection CHAPTER 5 30 Building stronger communities CHAPTER 6 36 Skills and people CHAPTER 7 40 Immigration and discrimination CHAPTER 8 45 The future CONCLUSION 49 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 51 ENDNOTES 52 INTRODUCTION LESSONS FROM BASSETLAW One of the features of Labour’s disas- having selected me, I was de-selected trous 2019 general election that has been by the national party a week later, and most commented on was the fall of the a candidate, considered to be more ‘Red Wall’. Labour lost 43 seats across left-wing and loyal to Jeremy Corbyn, the Midlands and the north in the 2019 installed. If there was to be an general election, adding to the six it experiment in whether the command lost in 2017. All were seats which had and control type of socialism favoured voted to leave the EU in the referendum by Corbyn and his supporters could and all were in manufacturing and win in the heart of England, this was it. ex-industrial heartlands. Their fall Labour did not just lose Bassetlaw, led to the end of almost 100 years of the constituency returned a Con- Labour dominance in these traditional servative MP Brendan Clarke-Smith working-class constituencies. with the biggest swing in the There has been a lot of debate about country to the Conservatives. From why those places were lost, but very being a Labour-held seat just two few practical suggestions about how years before – John Mann had won to win them back. Where better to look with a majority of 4,852 in 2017 – it has than Bassetlaw, a seat which saw the become a very safe Tory seat with the biggest swing to the Conservatives current MP there enjoying a majority of in the country? 14,032. The decline of almost a quarter For a brief moment in 2019 I was in Labour’s vote share was the greatest Labour’s candidate for Bassetlaw, the experienced by the party in any constit- northernmost part of Nottinghamshire, uency at that election. In December 2019 which first voted Labour in 1929. I was Bassetlaw broke all the wrong records. selected as an act of rebellion by the So what happened and are there local constituency party which feared any lessons that can be drawn to help they were going to have a “Momentum Labour next time? candidate” foisted upon them by the I came into Bassetlaw as an outsider national party. Despite the local party from London, although my roots are 2 BUILDING BRIDGES: LESSONS FROM BASSETLAW FOR THE COUNTRY much further north in Edinburgh. Labour can organise and build alliances But I built up links in the constituency between different kinds of voters, and and had already spent a lot of time in particular older voters who have in the East Midlands fighting the abandoned Labour for the Conservatives rural Tory seat of South Leicestershire all over the country.1 10 years before. Bassetlaw is a place There is much more in common which was once open to the world between people in Red Wall seats and with workers coming from all over those in cities where Labour did well the country and further afield to work than many would have us believe, in the Nottinghamshire mines. The not least because the smaller towns people, who remember working closely in the Midlands and north are where in dangerous conditions with others, are many parents and grandparents of city direct and to the point with each other dwellers live. Organising, and finding and with outsiders. policies and ideas which build wide Of course, each constituency has coalitions of voters against the Tories its own issues but some of the ideas across cities, towns and the countryside here from Bassetlaw will also be vital and across generations will be key to winning back other seats in other to winning in 2024. It will only be by areas Labour lost. There are lessons showing how we can build back for all about how to win here which apply of Britain that Labour has a chance of to the whole country, including how winning the next election. 3 SUMMARY Throughout this pamphlet, I discuss of a green-centred, healthy, sustainable a number of policies to help Labour and affordable lifestyle, shared by all. reconnect with the voters it has lost, particularly with older voters in the My key recommendations are: East Midlands and the north, in places • Support local Labour parties to build like Bassetlaw. Labour needs to recreate structures everywhere which can relationships with these areas, town connect with voters, particularly by town, village by village, street by valuing the strength of members street. It should feel like renewing who can organise, campaign and old friendships, reconnecting with build life-long caring relationships the non-conformist and creative with neighbours to rebuild trust impulses of the Midlands and northern in the party. England and rediscovering the early • Devolve power to English regions 20th century socialist sensibilities of with local representation for smaller rural life. Bassetlaw and places like it communities, so that policy is built must become central to the story of around those in Northern and Britain again, and Labour needs to Midlands towns and villages as well respect what they have to offer and as those in cities and the south east. be rooted in them once more. This is • Develop a green new deal that uses about devolving wealth and democratic assets already on the ground: the control and giving areas like Bassetlaw old mines, connections to the grid, clarity of purpose about their role in and large tracts of land in places like the country’s future, as part of a whole Bassetlaw which mean the constitu- Britain strategy. As a priority we should ency could power the country again bring people together, particularly those with green energy. who are less well-off, older and isolated, • Invest public money in fast fibre making sure towns and villages are as broadband to every home in areas connected and as innovative as cities that most need it. like London. Labour should lead on • Set up a democratically-controlled, intergenerational projects, encouraging bus-centred, green, affordable the next generation to stay or return to transport system specifically the towns and countryside with an offer to join up towns and rural areas, 4 BUILDING BRIDGES: LESSONS FROM BASSETLAW FOR THE COUNTRY so people can connect more easily • Make sure there is local and have access to public services control over the environment and a local nightlife. on issues which unite the coun- • Rethink town centres and villages try, including encouraging biodi- so they are places people want to versity, artisanal apprenticeships, live, work and study and enjoy funding flood defences, cultural activities. Learn from other incentivising sustainable countries about incentives to attract farms and protecting public and retain young people and fam- country parks. ilies: through grants, an artistic • Encourage and give financial offer, excellent schools, a life-long backing to local leaders to put on learning offer, forest nurseries education and community-building and specialist colleges to train programmes, working with CPRE, high-skilled nurses, construction, the countryside charity, to build engineering and digital workers. bridges between Black, Asian and • Build sustainable, affordable minority ethnic (BAME) residents, eco-housing and retrofit local younger immigrant communities houses so communities are powered and older white communities. by green energy. • Learn from the German • Ensure families and older people experience about financing and have easy access to well-funded welcoming refugees to villages out-of-hospital telemedicine and and small towns. local small shops. Sally Gimson December 2020 5 CHAPTER 1 FROM THE GRASSROOTS For Labour to succeed, it needs to be is important. Safe jobs, safe streets and rooted in local communities. That is being safe globally are all linked to as true in London as it is in Bassetlaw. people’s need for security – and Labour We cannot take anywhere for granted. has an obligation to offer that sense of My first experience of standing as security as a bare minimum. The loss a councillor was in a supposedly safe of the Red Wall seats reminds us that seat in London. We lost it for the first we lose voters if they believe we are not and last time because the Tories built interested in building a secure future for a coalition against us which united Britain in the world.