2022.04.29 阿拉斯泰尔-坎贝尔的当今政治原则

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By Invitation | British politics
Alastair Campbell’s principles for politics today
The former media chief writes 25 years after Tony Blair’s first victory

Apr 29th 2022 (Updated Apr 29th 2022)

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NEW LABOUR, and all who sailed in it, can take some satisfaction from the fact that most politically engaged people of all ages can recall the date when it went from campaign mode to government mode: May 1st 1997. It was an important moment, and is still seen as such. A quarter of a century is a very long time in politics, as Harold Wilson didn’t say.

When Tories toured television studios recently to list the achievements of Boris Johnson’s first 1,000 days as prime minister, the sum total of their talking points appeared to be getting Brexit done, the world’s best roll-out of covid-19 vaccines and leading the international response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Yet all three are up for debate.


I have a long list of New Labour’s achievements which I happily recite at public meetings when I am challenged either by Conservatives or New Labour’s opponents inside the party over the three terms secured under Tony Blair’s leadership. By the end of his first 1,000 days in office, among many other things, the government he led had made the Bank of England independent, introduced a minimum wage, cut youth and long-term unemployment, created the Scottish Parliament, begun the spending and reform process that led to smaller class sizes in schools and shorter NHS waiting times, helped reverse ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and negotiated the Good Friday Agreement to bring peace to Northern Ireland.

I have a whole lot more achievements to list when someone shouts “what about Iraq?” It’s a fair question, the invasion and its aftermath forming an important part of the Blair record, but the many acts of progress and advance delivered in the 13 years of New Labour are a good part of the answer. Judge governments in the round.

More important than arguing about the past, however, or even comparing the Blair record with that of David Cameron, Theresa May and Mr Johnson, is whether there are any positive lessons to learn from New Labour for the present and the future. I believe there are, not least the enduring principles of our approach, rooted in an understanding and respect of human beings and democratic institutions. Some are focused on internal party workings, others on voter-facing political strategy and delivery in government. You need to do all of them well to win elections, and keep winning them.

1. Be obsessed about winning. You achieve very little change to people’s lives from permanent opposition. Labour lost the four general elections before Mr Blair won, and has lost four more since. We never believed, no matter how badly the Major government was doing, that “governments lose elections”. The opposition has to win them. That framed a mindset that was constantly looking to improve, constantly fearing defeat, and that acted accordingly.


2. Have a vision, a clearly defined strategy and most importantly have a plan that flows from both. People are less likely to jump ship if it's moving steadily and the destination is clear; people are more likely to join if they see that steady progress too. “New Labour, New Britain” was more than merely the slogan we plastered on conference backdrops and campaign leaflets. It encapsulated our entire strategy: a changed Labour Party seeking permission to change the country, with a relentless focus on modernisation. In government we maintained the determination to deliver on promises made.

3. Lean into the future, don’t fear it or ignore its trends. That is what the changed party constitution was all about. We also changed the approach on the economy, not merely through the Bank of England’s independence, but through tough rules on tax and spending. We changed attitudes on issues as varied as devolution, public-service reform and crime, with the “tough on crime” message every bit as important as the more traditionally Labour “tough on the causes of crime”.

4. Meet voters and their concerns where they are, and then take them with you to create progress. Don’t wait for them to come to you. This is not about being driven by polling and focus groups, helpful though they can be. It is about ensuring you fully understand the reality of public opinion, which is rarely the same as media opinion, and that your strategy and ideas are not too far removed from it. For all the passion he exhibited and inspired, this is something Jeremy Corbyn did not manage, not least because on defence and security issues, for example, he never countered or conquered fears about where his heart lay on major strategic issues.

5. Make a virtue of debate and participate actively and enthusiastically in the exchange of ideas. Never stop stress-testing your arguments and your policies. The relentless and often rancorous debate between the major figures in New Labour could be draining, and brutal at times. But, especially in the early years, it led to positions and policies we were better able to defend. And though we could doubtless have done it better, for example in the various stages of public-sector reform, when too often those at the front line felt they were not fully consulted, involving outside voices in policy development made for better policy too.

6. There is no such thing as campaigning without policy, or policy without campaigning, and communication matters. This may sound obvious, but if I look at both main parties today, I am not sure they fully grasp this. For the Tories, campaigning still seems to take precedence over the feasibility of their policies. As for Labour, its MPs keep telling me they have lots of policies, but the public don’t know what they are. And you can’t blame the public for that. Though a biased and trivialising media is a massive barrier, you can’t blame journalists either. Labour has to communicate relentlessly about the difference it would make. The different policies. The different values. The different approach.

7. The public decides the important questions of the day, not politicians: don’t waste time trying to change the question, focus instead on getting the right answer that wins support whilst also reflecting your values. Perhaps our reluctance always to do this led us to be slow to understand just how big an issue immigration was becoming. This is highly relevant to the so-called culture wars today. Though the Tories and their media supporters exaggerate the need for a “war on woke”, related issues do cause concern among many people. Labour needs to show it understands those concerns, even while accusing the Tories of exploiting them rather than addressing them. Similarly, on Brexit, to have both the government and the opposition seemingly avoid serious debate about its problems and challenges, strikes many as bizarre in the extreme. Real problems require real debate, and solutions.


8. The past can be a guide to the future but you'll rarely find solutions to today's problems in yesterday's ideological textbooks. Mr Blair read voraciously about the history of attempts to bring peace to Northern Ireland, but he was concerned as much to study what failed and why. He knew that to make progress, discussions must be founded on a new approach and new ideas, albeit rooted in principle and history.

9. Govern for the benefit of the whole nation, not just the parts that vote for you, and exercise this commitment in opposition too. Mr Johnson fails to do this and, alongside his dishonesty, I think it could lead to his undoing.

10. Understand that politics is not a standalone operation or an academic exercise—it is society, it is culture, and local as well as national and international concerns. Political parties and leaders need to reflect and reach across all of that. Most people do not identify themselves as being “political”. It is a challenge to persuade them to make the link between their own lives and the political process. That is where a determination to try to live your politics “outside the bubble” becomes important. Of course Westminster and Whitehall are at the heart of our politics. But politicians should get out of there as often as they can, and speak the language of people and communities, not political process and intrigue.

11. Money alone will not deliver improvement to public services. It has to be matched by reform and innovation. This is especially important given the public are largely oblivious to the huge sums talked about in government. Especially when times are tough in their own lives, people become rightly offended when they see waste in government spending.

12. Words alone will not bring about what you promise. It is about the delivery. The words are easy. Delivery is hard. The Number 10 “delivery unit” under Michael Barber was a hugely important initiative, and the processes to track progress helped to deliver on our policy objectives. It was a huge mistake for Mr Cameron to scrap it, in my view. Getting rid of things that were “not invented here” is one of the worst aspects of our system.

Fond though I am of our leaders and team, and proud of all we achieved, I am not calling for a “return” to New Labour. Britain in 2022, and the world in 2022, are very different to Britain and the world of 1997. New leaders and teams have to find new ideas to meet the challenges of today, in a very different political world, defined in all too many places, including Britain right now, by the three Ps that help form the foundations of autocracy, namely populism, polarisation and post-truth.

Our values and principles are more important than ever, precisely because of the scale of threat now faced by liberal democracy. I believe they are relevant, whether for Keir Starmer leading Labour now, or indeed for whoever succeeds Mr Johnson as Tory leader and seeks to restore some basic professionalism, seriousness and honesty to the public realm. We need to hold firm to our principles, but apply them to the modern world.

Alastair Campbell is a political strategist, author and journalist. He co-hosts the podcast “The Rest is Politics”.



应邀参加｜英国政治
阿拉斯泰尔-坎贝尔的当今政治原则
这位前媒体负责人在托尼-布莱尔首次获胜25年后写道

2022年4月29日 (2022年4月29日更新)


新劳工党，以及所有在其中航行的人，可以从以下事实中得到一些满足，即所有年龄段的大多数参与政治的人都可以回忆起它从竞选模式转为政府模式的日期。1997年5月1日。那是一个重要的时刻，而且至今仍被视为如此。正如哈罗德-威尔逊(Harold Wilson)所言，四分之一个世纪在政治上是一段非常长的时间。

最近，当保守党人在电视演播室里列举鲍里斯-约翰逊担任首相的前1000天的成就时，他们的谈话要点似乎是完成了英国脱欧、世界上最好的covid-19疫苗的推广以及领导国际社会应对俄罗斯对乌克兰的侵略。然而，这三点都有待商榷。


我有一份长长的新工党成就清单，当我在公开会议上被保守派或新工党内部的反对者质疑托尼-布莱尔领导下的三届任期时，我很乐意背诵这份清单。在他执政的第一个1000天结束时，除其他许多事情外，他领导的政府已经使英格兰银行独立，引入了最低工资，减少了青年和长期失业，创建了苏格兰议会，开始了支出和改革进程，导致学校的班级规模缩小，国家卫生系统的等待时间缩短，帮助扭转科索沃的种族清洗，并通过谈判达成了耶稣受难日协议，为北爱尔兰带来和平。

当有人喊出 "那伊拉克呢？"时，我还有很多成就可以列举。这是一个公平的问题，入侵及其后果构成了布莱尔记录的一个重要部分，但新工党13年来所取得的许多进步和进展是答案的一个重要部分。对政府进行全面评判。

然而，比起对过去的争论，甚至将布莱尔的记录与大卫-卡梅伦、特雷莎-梅和约翰逊先生的记录进行比较，更重要的是，对于现在和未来，是否有任何积极的经验教训可以从新工党那里学到。我相信是有的，特别是我们的方法的持久原则，植根于对人类和民主制度的理解和尊重。有些原则侧重于党内工作，有些则侧重于面向选民的政治战略和政府工作。你需要做好所有这些，才能赢得选举，并不断赢得选举。

1. 1. 执着于胜利。永久性反对派对人们的生活所带来的改变是微乎其微的。工党在布莱尔先生获胜之前的四次大选中都输了，此后又输了四次。无论梅杰政府的表现多么糟糕，我们都不相信 "政府会输掉选举"。反对派必须要赢得选举。这就构筑了一种不断寻求改进、不断害怕失败、并据此行事的心态。


2. 2.有一个愿景，一个明确的战略，最重要的是有一个从这两个方面产生的计划。如果船在稳步前进，目的地明确，人们就不太可能跳船；如果人们也看到这种稳步的进展，他们就更有可能加入。"新工党，新英国 "不仅仅是我们贴在会议背景板和竞选传单上的口号。它概括了我们的整个战略：一个改变了的工党寻求改变国家的许可，坚持不懈地关注现代化。在政府中，我们保持了兑现承诺的决心。

3. 3.面向未来，不要惧怕它或忽视它的趋势。这就是修改后的党章的意义所在。我们还改变了对经济的态度，不仅仅是通过英格兰银行的独立性，而是通过对税收和支出的严格规定。我们改变了对权力下放、公共服务改革和犯罪等各种问题的态度，其中 "严厉打击犯罪 "的信息与工党更传统的 "严厉打击犯罪原因 "一样重要。

4. 4. 满足选民和他们所关心的问题，然后带着他们一起创造进展。不要等待他们来找你。这并不是说要受民意调查和焦点小组的驱动，尽管它们可能很有帮助。而是要确保你充分了解公众舆论的现实，而公众舆论很少与媒体舆论相同，而且你的战略和想法不会与之相差太远。尽管杰里米-科尔宾展现并激发了所有的激情，但他并没有做到这一点，尤其是在国防和安全问题上，他从未反驳或克服人们对他在重大战略问题上的心态的担忧。

5. 5. 将辩论作为一种美德，积极而热情地参与思想交流。永远不要停止对你的论点和政策进行压力测试。新工党的主要人物之间无情的、经常是激烈的辩论可能会使人疲惫，有时甚至是残酷的。但是，特别是在早期，它导致了我们能够更好地捍卫的立场和政策。尽管我们无疑可以做得更好，例如在公共部门改革的各个阶段，当那些在第一线的人经常感到他们没有被充分征求意见时，让外界的声音参与到政策制定中来也会使政策变得更好。

6. 不存在没有政策的竞选活动，也不存在没有竞选活动的政策，沟通很重要。这听起来很明显，但如果我看一下今天的两个主要政党，我不确定他们是否完全掌握了这一点。对保守党来说，竞选活动似乎仍然优先于其政策的可行性。至于工党，其议员一直告诉我他们有很多政策，但公众不知道它们是什么。这也不能怪公众。虽然有偏见和轻描淡写的媒体是一个巨大的障碍，但你也不能责怪记者们。工党必须坚持不懈地宣传它将带来的变化。不同的政策。不同的价值观。不同的方法。

7. 公众决定当今的重要问题，而不是政治家：不要浪费时间试图改变问题，而是专注于获得正确的答案，赢得支持，同时也反映你的价值观。也许我们总是不愿意这样做，导致我们迟迟不能理解移民问题正在成为一个多么大的问题。这与今天的所谓文化战争高度相关。尽管保守党和他们的媒体支持者夸大了 "反腐战争 "的必要性，但相关问题确实引起了许多人的关注。工党需要表明它理解这些关切，甚至在指责保守党利用这些关切而不是解决这些关切的同时。同样，在英国脱欧问题上，政府和反对派似乎都在回避对其问题和挑战的认真辩论，这让许多人感到极端奇怪。真正的问题需要真正的辩论，以及解决方案。


8. 8.过去可以是未来的指南，但你很少能在昨天的意识形态教科书中找到解决今天问题的办法。布莱尔先生贪婪地阅读了为北爱尔兰带来和平的尝试的历史，但他同样关心的是研究什么是失败的，为什么。他知道，要想取得进展，讨论必须建立在新的方法和新的想法之上，尽管这些想法是植根于原则和历史的。

9. 9. 为整个国家的利益而治理，而不仅仅是投票给你的那部分人，在反对派中也要履行这一承诺。约翰逊先生没有做到这一点，加上他的不诚实，我认为这可能导致他的失败。

10. 10.理解政治不是一个独立的操作或学术活动--它是社会，它是文化，是地方以及国家和国际的关注。政党和领导人需要反映并跨越所有这些。大多数人不认为自己是 "政治 "的。要说服他们把自己的生活和政治进程联系起来，是一个挑战。这时，尝试在 "泡沫之外 "生活的政治决心就变得很重要。当然，威斯敏斯特和白厅是我们政治的核心。但是，政治家们应该尽可能多地走出那里，说人民和社区的语言，而不是政治程序和阴谋。

11. 11.仅靠金钱是无法改善公共服务的。它必须与改革和创新相匹配。这一点尤其重要，因为公众在很大程度上对政府中谈论的巨额资金视而不见。特别是在他们自己生活困难的时候，当他们看到政府开支中的浪费时，就会理所当然地感到愤怒。

12. 仅仅靠言语是无法实现你的承诺的。关键在于兑现。说话很容易。交付是困难的。迈克尔-巴伯领导的10号 "交付单位 "是一个非常重要的举措，跟踪进展的过程有助于实现我们的政策目标。在我看来，卡梅伦先生将其废除是一个巨大的错误。摆脱那些 "不是在这里发明的 "东西是我们制度中最糟糕的方面之一。

尽管我很喜欢我们的领导人和团队，并为我们取得的所有成就感到自豪，但我并不是在呼吁 "回归 "新工党。2022年的英国和2022年的世界，与1997年的英国和世界非常不同。新的领导人和团队必须找到新的想法，以应对今天的挑战，在一个非常不同的政治世界，在所有太多的地方，包括现在的英国，由三个Ps定义，即民粹主义，两极化和后真相，帮助形成专制的基础。

我们的价值观和原则比以往任何时候都更重要，正是因为自由民主现在面临的威胁规模。我相信，无论是对现在领导工党的基尔-斯塔默，还是对接替约翰逊先生成为保守党领袖并寻求在公共领域恢复一些基本的专业性、严肃性和诚实性的人，它们都是相关的。我们需要坚守我们的原则，但要把它们应用于现代世界。

阿拉斯泰尔-坎贝尔是一位政治战略家、作家和记者。他是播客 "剩下的就是政治 "的共同主持人。