"A future fair for all": Will it fly? We live to see.

Well, as a student of political strategy I am anxiously waiting for what the parties will say are their ‘broadcast’ message to encapsulate the agenda. Not that this will concern the British electors so much more than the ‘bread and butter’ or ‘the kitchen table’ issues that New Labour (Labour), Conservatives (Tories) and the Liberal Democratic (LibDems) parties need to focus on but because in the world of political campaigning, simplicity sells. It sells because by making your campaign message simple, half of the work is done for the voters. Gone are the days when people have to rip through, page by page, your manifesto to see what you have for them when in government. In today’s mediated politics where soundbites rules, people only look at the headlines and that’s why Labours new slogan, "A future fair for all" could fly. However there is an eminent danger. What is it?

In my opinion, a slogan such as "A future fair for all" is ambitiously aspirational and that makes it problematic for Labour. First, should the Labour party’s record fail to support such intentions then voters will see through it as some kind of pandering. That will also depend on how effective the Tories and LibDems are able to rip through the ‘ins and outs’ of Labour’s record. Ultimately, however, it depends on voter perception; do voters see Labour’s behaviour as one that had really done enough, especially in the past few months, in ensuring such an egalitarian society it craves for in comparison with the behaviours of the other parties? The yardstick for this assessment will be based on how the three main parties either solved or proposed solutions for the parliamentary expenses scandal, bank bonuses and many other high profile political – commercial cases that plagued Britain in the months leading to this electioneering period. That will be decisive in voters’ perceptions of the parties and consequently, their electoral decisions.

Further, it is also good to look at political history to evaluate whether an ambitiously aspirational slogan such as "A future fair for all" will work for Labour. In hindsight, an aspirational slogan had always worked for parties in opposition as they ride on incumbents’ failures. Hence the aspirations of making things better than. Examples abound in this direction such as in Ghana, the NPPs ‘Agenda for Positive Change’ in the 2000 elections and in the US elections 2008, Obama’s ‘Hope We Can Believe In’ slogan etc. When an incumbent proposes such an aspirational message like that of Labour’s, the question will always be ‘why now?’ And especially for the many who may have been disappointed in the incumbent’s stewardship, the question ‘a future fair for who?’ is likely to prop up. That will be challenging for the party. Again, an aspirational slogan will work well for a fairly ‘youthful’ electoral market, such as the one that occurred in Obama’s US as against a ‘matured’ one. In the case of Britain, the opposite is true; the British electoral market is an aged and disenchanted one, especially amongst those who vote.

If I were the strategist for the Labour party, I will play the ‘safety first’ card, looking for a slogan that concerns today, such as ‘a safe pair of hands’ to play into people’s fear of the Tories reversing the economic recovery. After all, people ‘take refuge in what we have, our collective identities and look to them to resolve our individual fears,’ according to Zygmunt Bauman. And this is what George Bush Junior did in 2004 in his contest against John Kerry. In the heat of the electoral challenge, there appears Osama Bin Laden. What did Bush do? He claimed he was the toughest to deal with the ‘monster’ and the electors listened and voted massively for him. For the Tories, I propose they stay with Obama’s strategy if I were their strategist, saying: ‘We can’t afford five more years of the same.’ That should be the Conservatives trump card. In Ghana, the NPP did it in 2000 and the NDC, in 2008. But all said, I think time is the best strategist as it only can tell if the slogan works for Labour. In the meantime though, my feeling is Labour is opening itself too wide for possible Tory and LibDem attack.

Kobby Mensah University of Sheffield, UK [email protected]