A well organised and financed campaign by David Milliband, the favourite to succeed Gordon Brown as leader of the British Labour Party, has failed and left him with shattered dreams. The wholly unexpected victory, by a slim margin, of his younger brother, Ed, the other main contender and considered to be the underdog, surprised most British political observers. A view has been expressed that David was too closely identified with the New Labour Party policies of the now discredited Tony Blair and that he refused to distance himself from New Labour.
He had emerged into prominence as an adviser to Tony Blair before winning a seat in Parliament and subsequently a place in the Cabinet. His appointment by Gordon Brown as the youngest Foreign Secretary in decades, while Ed was appointed to the lower profiled and less glamorous post of Environment Secretary, signalled that David’s path was inexorably set on his eventual succession as Leader with the tacit support of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
Surprises in politics should come as no surprise. Very few expected Barack Obama to secure the Democratic nomination as its presidential candidate, much less his eventual election as President. Closer to home in Trinidad and Tobago, most people including Basdeo Panday, expected the leadership challenge of Kamla Persad-Bissessar to fizzle. It in fact succeeded and eventually resulted in the spectacular victory of the Peoples Partnership in the general elections.
Desi Bouterse of Suriname had long been considered to be unsuitable for high office because of the daunting legal issues and accusations which have long swirled around him. Rather than king, he appeared to better fit the role of kingmaker. But the electorate of Suriname thought otherwise. Bouterse retained relevance in Suriname politics, resonated with the youth and obtained the largest bloc of votes. After intense negotiations at coalition building, he now holds the office of President of Suriname.
Bouterse, Obama, Kamla, Ed Milliband, never wrote themselves off notwithstanding the pundits, observers and experts. They all fought against conventional wisdom which had them as underdogs. Despite the overt, bouncing optimism carefully contrived and displayed by most politicians, they must have been gripped at times with the loneliness of the daunting challenges they had to overcome. But there must have been something in each of them that kept them going, against the odds. It may be that each felt that he or she could have overcome the obstacles. It may be that each felt he or she had something different to offer. It may be that the indefinable in politics, that compelling drive to make a difference that develops as part of the psyche of some politicians, that motivates many activists in their political work and which eventually moulds their individual political goals, kept them going.
Political office is not a gift. In a democratic environment it has to be won. The best candidate is the one who wins only after a fair campaign and vote uninfluenced by extraneous pressures and influences. Such was the nature of the victory of Ed Milliband over his brother David Milliband. Because the campaign was fair, though sharp at times, Ed was humble in victory and David was gracious in defeat.
All the countries referred to in this analysis, including Guyana, have great but different challenges. The policies advanced by a candidate or potential candidate are a vital element in his or her success both as a candidate and eventual elected leader. In the US, the UK and Trinidad and Tobago, the possibilities existed and were utilized by the candidates to advance their independent policies to resolve the problems existing within their societies. Where the potential for policy debates do not exist to give the decision makers, be they wide or restricted membership, the opportunity to judge candidates on the merits of their ideas, then the dangers of deal making pose a threat to internal democracy and the selection of the best candidate.
The Labour Party has had a history of being out of power for long periods when it loses elections. Many of the elected, left leaning leaders were forced out of their positions after successive defeats of Labour by the Conservatives during their eighteen years in opposition. This is what gave rise to the thrashing of all semblance of progressive ideas of social democracy by Tony Blair and the emergence of New Labour and the Third Way, supported by some in Guyana, its embrace of the City, increasing social inequality, the ultimate collapse of the financialized economy and the humiliation of the Labour Party. Roy Hattersley, a political commentator, former Labour Minister of the 1960s and no friend of the left, analysed quite effectively and coherently in the latest edition of the New Statesman, the departures of New Labour from its core social democratic agenda, which increased the gap between the rich and the poor and resulted in its defeat.
It is beyond my capacity to give advice to Ed Milliband, but as I write, an open letter in the Guardian has done so with great perspicacity. Milliband, who has pronounced the death of New Labour, would do well to heed the Labour’s lessons of the past. (www.conversationtree.gy).