The local election results were tough for the Labour Party, as is often the way for governing parties. Some have taken that to be a warning that we must focus on delivery. No doubt there is truth in that. But it’s not the whole story.
When I speak with constituents in Plymouth, it is not just that people are angry that things do not work as well as they should. They feel ignored, that too often they are ‘done to’ by faceless bureaucrats and corporations. Polling for the We’re Right Here campaign found that 84% of people feel they have little or no control over the decisions that affect their lives. This profound lack of control is feeding alienation, discontent, and support for populist parties. The same polling found that Reform UK and Green Party voters are the most likely to feel disempowered. We need a Labour answer to this: community power.
That lack of control manifests itself in people’s everyday lives. On high streets, for example, we have seen too many towns and cities blighted by boarded up shops. A recent study found that high street vacancy was linked to increased support for UKIP, and the same is true of areas where there are closures of community pubs. As things stand, there is little that can be done about this. Strong powers don’t exist for communities to protect the places they care about.
This is why it is a bold step for this Labour government to put power back where it belongs – in all of our hands – through a Community Right to Buy, which is set to be introduced as part of the English Devolution Bill. This will give community organisations the power to have first dibs on buildings and land they care about when they come up for sale. In Plymouth, I’ve seen the difference Nudge Community Builders are making to Union Street – a historic place of entertainment in the city that has been in decline – by bringing buildings into community ownership and bringing life back to the area.
We cannot stop there. It is not just shuttered up shops that are feeding discontent. It is trying to navigate public services that don’t hear you when you say things aren’t working. It is seeing money wasted on projects you know your community doesn’t need, and knowing you could have spent it better. It is trying to get things done locally, only for blockers to stand in your way.
Discontent must be addressed on all fronts. Thankfully, the English Devolution Bill is a golden opportunity to take action.
Starting with public services, a Community Right to Shape Services should be introduced to give working people a say over services in their local area, so it is not just people with time and money to spare that can make their voices heard in service provision. Organisations like Four Greens Community Trust on my own patch are showing how locally-rooted organisations have the knowledge and expertise to tackle poverty, social isolation, and health inequalities.
Our devolution policy needs to move power beyond mayors and councils, to neighbourhoods which is how ordinary people understand their local area. Establishing Community Covenants – power-sharing agreements between local authorities and community organisations – would ensure that local councils everywhere follow pioneering Labour councils who share power with the local community to make meaningful community-level decisions and allocate resources.
As we take stock after the local election results we need to listen to that cry of discontent from parts of the country that are often heard and then ignored. It is time we addressed that lack of control that has defined our politics for the last decade. Community power is a Labour way to take back control.
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