One way to get trusted is to tell the truth. Jeremy was ‘off message’ from the moment he was elected in 1983 (before the phrase ‘off message’ even existed), but that did not stop him being elected Leader of what is now the largest party in Western Europe. Voters are not dumb – above anything else they simply crave ‘authentic’. If you have the world’s best policies (charging private schools VAT to pay for school dinners is a pretty good one) but no-one believes or trusts you, then there is little point in fighting Elections. Jeremy’s time as Leader is a great opportunity for the party to change the way it communicates.

A situation that began with Peter Mandelson creating a communications machine to respond to Thatcher’s political success in the eighties has ended with party representatives often behaving like robots (and many would say we now select robots) – and voters pick up on it when politicians robotically simply tow a party line and so they distrust us.  Our party more than ever needs leaders with radical ideas leading fresh debate – not robots. Continue reading →