You might have noticed that the progressive party lost a recent election.
Being a proud dual citizen of the US and UK, and one from the swing state of Pennsylvania, what does the US show us about current political movements?
The next leader matters now
Firstly, the Democrats lost. There was time to prepare a better succession plan, be strategic, and start earlier. This clearly didn’t happen.
Progressives need to be thinking long-term, and this includes giving a platform to bright ambitious younger talent to setup the next generation of leaders.
Growth is emotional
The economy was doing well under Biden, but people didn’t feel it. Again and again, the cost of living and high prices were sighted as key election concerns.
So while objective metrics looked positive, that didn’t matter on the ground.
With the Labour government’s key growth mission, ensuring this ties back to be felt in a real way throughout the UK will be critical to its success. Groups like the new Good Growth Foundation set up by former Labour candidate Praful Nargund have the potential to play a massive role here.
Trust comes from plain talking
A video to start to dig into this topic (shout-out to Matthew McGregor who first brought this to my attention) is this where a group of Pennsylvanian Trump-leaning voters speak with VP candidate Tim Walz. By holding a personal discussion, he changes their minds. This is down to trust not politics.
A reason often cited about Trump’s appeal is that he’s not a normal politician. That he speaks differently – not in double talk or seeming to evade questions.
READ MORE: Reactions from across the Labour Party as Trump secures his return to the White House
When politicians repeat key messages, this is understood by politicos as down to needing to get these into sound bites. But sticking to the same rigid message isn’t a strength to the general public.
As my partner explained to me, Trump can ‘talk a glass eye to sleep’. Even supporters would slip out the back of his rallies – not, I believe, because they stopped supporting him, as some commentators claimed, but because they can be hours-long events. Yet because he’s perceived as saying what he thinks, this leads people to trust him which, ultimately, plays better.
Democracy matters
One of the most cited issues coming out of exit polls (not exactly like the ones we have in the UK) was democracy.
Democracy isn’t a uniquely American issue, even if we do like to put it on a t-shirt more than is common in the UK. During the EU referendum, we saw similar sentiments argued about the role of Britain and concerns around the UK’s decision-making being subsumed into the EU.
We shouldn’t shy away from discussing democracy and actively seeking to protect it.
As Chair of Labour Digital, I’m deeply concerned about the interplay between disinformation and disenfranchisement. Dealing with these issues will set up the future for our democracy. Yes, they are difficult subjects to get right, but ones that are critical to tackle.
The culture war is becoming the gender war
Globally, there is a trend of women and men growing further apart on their political opinions particularly the younger generations. Ahead of yesterday, pollsters discussed the potential for the election decision to hinge on the turnout of young men versus young women.
It turns out this was partially right. Obviously, a lot of factors are at play, though in virtually every demograpic women voted for Harris by a larger percentage than men did – but often by a smaller proportion than voted Democrat in previous elections.
READ MORE: ‘As Trump returns to the White House, the Western centre-left will need to do some soul searching’
Meanwhile, Trump won a higher percentage of votes from black and Latino men than in the previous election against Biden. In key swing states, even a small shift makes this a much larger difference.
With this election showing that issues of identity and political decision-making are complex, this gender divide will need to be tackled by politicians who will need to navigate perceived trade-offs in a way that brings people together.
‘We get the politicians we deserve.’ Both the Electoral College and the popular vote issued Trump a victory in the US election. The Labour government should pay attention so we can drive positive change now and into the future.
