Labour's marketing politics

Mondeo Man, White Van Man, squeezed middle, aspirational working class, white working class – Labour’s search for a constituency continues apace. Just as long as it’s not the ‘something for nothing’ culture.

This marketing approach to politics, beloved of Blair, has surely had its day. Rather than simply define a set of problems that affect lots of people and then suggest ways we might solve them, Labour currently seems hell bent on finding an audience first.

This is symptomatic of a chronic lack of confidence; a fear or lack of any coherent identity, purpose or ideology. Until it figures out what it’s for rather than what segment of the population it needs to target, we’ll witness a gruesome parade of prospective leaders formulating more and more meaningless slogans – and then maybe select the most more–or–less–electable Labour leader.