This week Labour openly announced they would step up a series of personal, negative campaign adverts. The first advert was rightly ridiculed in the national media for both being wrong (especially considering Sir Keir Starmer’s personal position) and in very poor taste. However, my heart sank listening to first Emily Thornbury and then Angela Rayner, both grubbily defending Labour’s new ‘attack’ adverts when interviewed. Then doubling down, their second advert sought to highlight the PM’s wife, someone who isn’t even a politician.
Politics can and should be better than negative, personal campaigning. Now, of course as a Conservative MP perhaps you’d expect me to ‘cry foul’, but this is a broader point that applies to all Parties. Ahead of the 1997 General Election the Conservatives launched their ‘New Labour, New Danger’ campaign – a relentlessly negative campaign seeking to ‘demonise’ Tony Blair. The public did not like this style and Labour secured a landslide General Election victory.
All Parties wrestle with negative campaigning – either through frustration (narrowing of poll leads) or frankly when they are simply devoid of ideas / policies, energy, or calibre of leadership.
For me you must earn the right to represent. You should focus on your record and your plans – you are either good enough to win, or you don’t deserve to. No-one Party is right or wrong all the time. Perhaps surprisingly there is more in common that a feisty PMQ’s suggests, with genuine cross-party work on many issues – often the ones with the best outcomes. We all have a responsibility to inspire voter engagement and of course there will always be (policy) disagreements but the longstanding decline in voter turnouts at elections reflects that the balance towards negative campaigning is too great.
As I have been canvassing this week ahead of the local elections, I have been heartened by many residents complaining about these negative attack adverts, as will have been the case with the Conservatives in 1997. The public are right to expect better and thankfully they ultimately respond to positive campaigning – it is that which will drag the standards back where all politicians can hold their heads up high.
More positively, on Monday the Planning Committee gave approval for Panattoni to develop the former Honda site. This is a real credit to Swindon Borough Council, as developments of this size are not a given. It is this pro-business investment attitude which has already seen Swindon secure an additional 12,000 jobs since 2010, and this £700 million investment will potentially create a further 7000 jobs in the coming years.
Permission was also granted for the £7 million investment plans to restore and refurbish the Health Hydro in the town centre. The Health Hydro has been in use since 1891 and I know many generations of local residents will have learnt to swim there! We all now need to make sure the Oasis follows suit. It is a great relief plans are now in place, despite the challenge of the listed building consent.
A refurbished Health Hydro and Oasis would be a real boost for both local residents and attracting people to our town centre, something a town of our size would be proud to showcase.
