10 things the Labour party must do if it wants to regain its credibility

From not being afraid of Blair to getting real about progressive politics, here are my commandments for Labour's recovery

Tony Blair and his allies have blamed Labour’s crushing election defeat on Ed Miliband turning his back on New Labour (AFP/Getty Images)

Understandably, and rightly, the Labour Party is getting a lot of unsolicited advice about how it can rebuild after another disastrous election result. Given that it has only ever managed to get back into power by listening to such advice, in fact especially from people who, like me might be sympathetic but who didn’t vote for it, it may do no harm. So here goes with my “10 commandments” for Labour recovery, and these do deserve to be carved out in Portland stone.

1. Don’t worry about what your new leader used to do for a living

We’ve heard a good deal about how undesirable it is to have someone, like Ed Miliband, who has spent their whole life in politics in one way or another, or closely allied trades, to be leader of the party. There’s something in it, perhaps, in that having a rich life experience can help anyone in a job, but it should not be taken that seriously.

After all, David Miliband, who might have done better last time, of course had almost exactly the same background as his brother, while David Cameron is not exactly someone who has lived life, as a former PR man, political apparatchik and advisor and then MP at a young age.

What matters is what they stand for and what their policies are; the public seem not to mind having people from “posh” backgrounds running the country if they think they are up to the job.

2. Believe that Britain can be Tory

Speaking personally, I lived under a Tory government from the age of 17 – when Mrs Thatcher came in and I couldn’t even vote against her – and 35, when the fourth Tory administration crumbled under John Major. I sense that for many politically active people, the idea that the Conservatives can be the dominant force in politics is alien. Get real: across a long stretch of history, the Tories have been running the shop. Though not the force they were, the party has long been the most electorally successful party anywhere in the world, and it dominated the twentieth century. Do not underestimate them.

3. Progressive politics rarely ever triumph at the polls

There have been only four – yes four! – men who led the Labour Party to victory in a general election in the last century – Ramsay MacDonald, Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson and Tony Blair. No fewer than 11 Labour contenders have failed. And of the four who didn't, only three managed to win overall majorities to carry though a programme. Of those only Blair managed good majorities over three successive terms. There are plenty of lessons in the “New Labour playbook”. It's not for nothing that David Cameron and George Osborne refer to him as the “master”.

4. Tony Blair must be rehabilitated

Invite him to conference; let him make a speech; try not to insult or heckle him; show that the party is still in touch with New Labour instincts. Be nice to Peter Mandelson (a big ask, I know).

5. Realise that making the rich poorer will not make the poor richer

The public understand in a Thatcherite (or perhaps Blairite) way, that people who make money also make jobs. We live in a fiercely competitive global economy, and if the rich aren’t going to live in Britain and spend their money here, there are plenty other countries – including in Europe – who’d love to have them to stay.

6. The IT manager earning £50,000 a year is not some sort of class enemy

Allow them their dream of a bigger house; and understand that raising taxes is not the answer to everything. More important still, understand that it is simply not popular, and that many voters distrust the state’s ability to spend money wisely.

7. Don't scorn those who worry about immigration

Ed Balls did much to counteract this, but what's striking is how so many people from immigrant backgrounds themselves are now concerned about immigration. Given that Britain is a nation of immigrants over many centuries this is not so no difficult to understand. At any given point there should be a debate about the numbers and types of immigrants coming into Britain. People do resent the (very limited) use of the NHS by foreigners, a few of whom will be “health tourists”. It doesn’t turn you into a Nazi to think that isn’t really the way we should be running things.

8. Ditching a tax and spend agenda doesn't make you 'less Labour'

There are plenty of things a Labour government can do – including having greater equality of outcomes and of opportunities – if it is driving an effective, productive, economy. The idea that public services are paid for by enterprise and job creation has, again, become a Conservative monopoly. It should not be. At their best, Blair and Gordon Brown showed how social justice and economic efficiency can be combined. Labour somehow lost that insight, and a few others, in the great amnesia that followed Blair’s departure in 2007.

9. Enjoy opposition

But don’t fall in love with it or mistake it for proper politics, which is the art and exercise of power. Be careful not to fall into the many traps the Cameron and Osborne will lay, and let them portray your party as unblinkingly pro-European, or naively pro-immigration, or “on the side of shirkers” or “tax and spend”. Don’t be afraid to vote for some Tory legislation, if it’s defensible. Catch them on incompetence and division; there’ll be plenty of that.

10. Never mistake opinion polls for the real thing

Or for that matter, local elections, European elections or by-elections. These are all poor substitutes. During the last Parliament Labour was often ahead in the polls, faulty though they may have been. In the 1950s and 1980s the Tories very rarely led in opinion polls; they dominated politics for both decades.

So concentrate on doing whatever it takes to regain Labour’s reputation for economic competence. Attack the unions; condemn strikes; praise business and the City where it does well; cultivate anti-Labour media barons.

This is easier if the Tories lose the economic plot, as they did before Labour victories in 1964, 1974 and 1997, and, after a fashion, 1945 too; but it is still possible to have attractive policies that the country can see will make the whole nation better off.

Simply legislating for higher living standards, for example by calling for ever-higher rates for the “living wage” won’t fool anyone. If we could make people richer by passing a law politics would be a lot simpler. As in the 1980s and 1990s, a generation is passing that has had its time in government. And as always, it is a shame that so many lessons have to be re-learned.