Executive Summary:
The grassroots organisation Momentum was set up in the wake of Jeremy Corbyn’s rise as leader of the Labour Party. A people powered, vibrant movement which echoes the ambition of Corbyn. Prompting high voter turnout, especially amongst the younger generation in two leadership elections and a general election, and reigniting an interest in politics for many, they have written their names in electoral history. But they are just at the start in the quest to alter the makeup of Labour following the Tony Blair era and bring a harmonious and collective feeling to the party. It is with this in mind they are pushing for strategies such as deselection to increase working class representation in the party and implement policies that will appeal to every segment of the party. It is for that reason their endeavours will be monumental if Corbyn is to enter 10 Downing Street.
Analysis:
Corbyn won the Labour leadership elections in 2015 with an emphatic performance, winning 59.5% of the vote, a mandate that even dwarfed Blair’s in 1994. Central to this victory were the volunteer activists who set up a new social movement to back his ideas and politics . Four weeks after the resounding victory, those same individuals were part of the new group formed called Momentum.
‘A mass movement for change, for real progressive change in every town and city’ was how they described themselves, with the intention to ‘transform the Labour party into a more democratic party with the policies and collective will to make that change. The individuals and groups will also campaign on issues that matter to Momentum, including by holding rallies and the encouragement of mass mobilisation ‘.
Rallies, demonstrations and several other forms of activism took place everyday in a bid to propagate the message that Corbyn was the right man for the job and the change the party and country needed. It was clear Corbyn had their unyielding support. Following his victory, Corbyn proclaimed ‘the people are fed up with the injustice and inequality in Britain’ before accentuating the need to draw the line under the New Labour era of Blair and Gordon Brown.
Not only a fundamental change in ownership and tax, but rather a systematic effort embedded in reform that sets the foundation for revolutionary change is what is at the heart of the message. The redistribution of income, assets, ownership and power. Wrestling control from landlords, shareholders and vetted interests and putting it in the hands of workers, consumers and tenants.
These are concepts that are traditionally anathema to mainstream political parties and the establishment. The theme was one that resonated with Momentum, and a plethora of the public, but not the traditional Labour make up, as exhibited with the September 2016 no confidence vote and subsequent leadership election, the second in as many years, as Corbyn stormed to yet another resounding victory. He built on the historic win a year earlier, this time amassing 61.8% of the vote and increasing his mandate. Momentum’s influence was compelling, as they ran a ‘Jeremy for leader’ campaign, which prompted greater engagement, particularly amongst the younger generation in the party as his politics, ideas and standpoints were circulated.They allured large swathes of people, evinced by the fact online registered supporters of Labour were at 100,000 in April 2016, but by January 2017 they had doubled to 200,000.
Since then, Corbyn’s Labour have become the largest political party in Europe with more than half a million members. Momentum have also gone from strength to strength and their membership is increasing monthly.
In the Spring of 2017, on a quest to deliver Brexit, Theresa May called the election she did not need to. Unnecessary but cataclysmic, it became a defining moment in her premiership. A 25% lead in the polls which if represented at the ballot boxes, would engender profound support in parliament, and an election campaign in which her Conservative Party received more favourable and positive coverage from the press, compared to the harsh and critical exposure Corbyn and his manifesto received – all the indications were that she would deliver a thumping victory.
But Momentum’s influence proved the decisive factor. A third of the UK’s Facebook users were reached by pro-Labour Momentum-made content over the six week election period; thousands of Momentum’s members were contacted by others via the phone canvassing app Calling for Corbyn to inform them of doorknocking sessions; tens of thousands of activists were directed into marginal seats through the group’s website My Nearest Marginal. These slick social media campaigns and mass mobilisations, driven by energetic and enthusiastic activists who felt a party finally represented their views were disseminating that message and ensuring it resonated. Consequently, Corbyn delivered an unexpected triumph for him and Labour as they won 33 extra seats and stripped May of her governing majority. In fact, of the 30 constituencies they targeted, they won all but five of them. Again youth participation was pivotal as young people turned out to vote in greater numbers than at any point in the last 25 years.
Thus, Momentum shook the British arena with their involvement, and after asserting their influence and ensuring Labour remain a prominent force in the UK political scene and a political home for the hitherto politically disengaged, it did not stop there, as they are now making significant headway in refashioning the party. Following the National Executive Committee election in 2018, pro-Corbyn candidates occupied all nine of the places at the decision making body. It is instructive of the influence of Momentum that every candidate they backed, except Peter Willsman, whose Momentum endorsement was pulled at the very last minute, managed to win.
The NEC sets the overall strategic direction of the party and its policy developments, and with the assistance of Momentum in ensuring those in the higher echelons of the body are singing from the same hymn sheet as Corbyn, it is the catalyst required to press on with reshaping the party and advancing its agenda.
In fact, the perseverance of instilling a certain culture and direction that everybody should be signed up to was evident recently when founder of Momentum and now NEC candidate, Jon Lansman, recently warned Labour MP’s contemplating voting for Johnson’s withdrawal agreement that they would be barred from standing in the next election and replaced by ‘new, socialist’ candidates.
Likewise, the influence of the NEC and the newly elected representatives was discernible when just weeks after the election, the NEC agreed two new rule changes, which would see the deselection of sitting MPs made easier and set a new threshold for candidates in leadership contests.
The reformed trigger ballot system, termed the ‘33% model ‘, would require a third of local party branches or affiliated trade union branches to demand a full selection process. This system sets the bar lower than the original level of 50%.
Having pushed for this, Momentum also launched a nationwide campaign to encourage members to begin the deselection process for Labour MP’s, opening the door for more diverse, younger and working-class MP’s. The announcement came in light of the Conservative leadership election, which Momentum described as a ‘broken political system dominated by posh men from expensive private schools’.
Indeed, the feeling among many working-class Labour supporters is one of political, social and economic exclusion. Deindustrialisation and unrelenting austerity have crippled their communities and they blame the establishment for it, hence triggering feelings of animosity towards the political class. For several years many loathed Labour, because of the Blair era where mobility was championed , the idea of leaving your community, history and family behind to prosper, thus reducing peoples backgrounds to no more than class baggage.
But Momentum are well on the way to modifying that mindset and illustrating that whilst the Conservative Party is an exclusive club for out of touch Etonians, the Labour Party is a broad church that accommodates for all.
This is demonstrated by the fact nearly all of the Momentum backed candidates set to battle in marginals and key seats in the upcoming general election, are candidates which represent the areas they are fighting for, and re-establishing trust and faith in politics in the process . Ali Milani, a young, working-class Muslim who has lived in the area of West London for most of his life since migrating from Iran aged 5, will be trying to unseat the Conservative MP for Uxbridge, prime minister Boris Johnson.
He is the candidate who will hope to deliver a stunning victory as part of the ‘Unseat Boris’ campaign Momentum launched in July 2019, which has already begun with mass canvassing sessions, activist mobilisation and voting intention data. His ascendancy in the party highlights that Labour provides opportunities to the younger generation that other parties cannot match, reinforcing the notion that the party is being rearranged into an all-encompassing one. But the process is not just about establishing the right personnel. Ensuring candidates and the policies they are advocating for represent the local community and their interests, therefore intriguing and enticing people to vote Labour is equally as integral.This is where the strategy of activism comes into play.
This is considered Momentum’s greatest strength, and the recent Peterborough by-election victory embellished this. A city with a 61.9% leave voting population and at a time when Labour was riddled with internal Brexit tensions, the commentators predicted a disheartening Labour performance. But Momentum mobilised nearly 1000 activists, including those carpooled to Peterborough from areas including but not limited to North Wales, London, Winchester, Leeds, Leicester and Brighton. On the Saturday before polling day more than 300 people canvassed and on polling day 500 knocked on doors. Canvassers were not only diligent, but tactically astute in their messages too.They successfully squeezed the Greens and Liberal Democrat support by warning that a misplaced vote would pave the way for the newly founded Brexit Party to gain a foothold.
As a result, the flexible yet vibrant, energetic, enthusiastic and communal feeling Momentum is bringing to the Labour Party is invaluable. There is a sense of belonging returning to Labour that brings with it a spirit and passion to fight for the cause. This apace with their comprehensive data analysis and sophisticated campaign tools could be essential in an election.
In fact, Johnson tried to force through an early October election because it would cripple the student vote as most of them would be on the electoral roll at home and would be less likely to travel back from their term time address to vote. However, Momentum were already on standby. They launched a website named Univotes to help students decide whether they should vote at home or university. It allows students to enter the postcodes of their family home and university term time address, and the tool informs them which of their two constituencies Labour most needs their vote in. Momentum have emphasised that as students tend to vote Labour, having them registered in marginal seats could assist Labour in winning ample seats.
Resultantly, Momentum are monitoring every potential dynamic to keep Labour and its supporters ready for any given situation. But they are also maintaining a shared direction whilst cultivating engagement in the party. In Labour’s annual conference in Brighton, when motions were presented and voted on, those endorsed by Momentum had a 100% success rate. They include the four day working week, a Green New Deal and integrating private schools into the state sector. It is these pledges and underlining them that can kickstart a political revolution in Britain, and Momentum have ensured a sizeable amount of people have subscribed. With Johnson politically paralysed after yet another defeat in the commons, this time his Withdrawal Agreement Bill timetable, an election is now scheduled for December. This may be the moment Momentum have been waiting for to flex their muscles.
Conclusion:
The structural changes to the Labour Party that Momentum have pioneered are proving critical in reworking the party to fit Corbyn’s slogan and become a party for the many and not just the few. With policies that buck the traditional political party trends, they are proposals that can garner robust support and eradicate the suggestion that political parties do not represent the wider community. The unity this stimulates in the party from the bottom up is what has been critical. Low voter turnout, total disinterest and no real confidence in parties to deliver have historically been the standpoints. But at a time when the country is on the cliff edge looking down with unprecedented chaos looming, Momentum’s role in making Labour an attractive option for radical and acute change is what could be imperative when an election or referendum occurs to break the political logjam.
