Written by This is my first, perhaps only, foray into the role of Agent.
This is for an excellent candidate in a safe Tory seat, with probably less than a dozen Labour activists across the whole sprawling constituency. No experience; no people; no money; no realistic hopes beyond unashamedly showing Labour’s colours and values to the heathen; or providing limited added support to nearby target seats, thus effectively abandoning left-inclined voters here.
What strikes me is just how unequal are the resources available to constituencies like this compared to safer or more winnable seats.
We acknowledge the reasons for this, but cannot see how things can ever change without some fairer input. After all, the bureaucracy of the Party and of the electoral process are the same for us and our opponents have all that we lack.
We in Labour believe that those with least have recourse to the State. Yet Labour seems to say internally that those with least shall continue to have below-subsistence means. We have the same desires and values, but no chance of enfranchisement as those who live in redder climes.
It is for this reason that we urge the formation of nationwide linkages such as Labour: Coast & Country through which isolated voices can be heard and even become collective.
Good luck everyone – and sympathies to all Agents!
Tom Serpell is a Committee member for Labour: Coast & Country and brave Agent for Wealden CLP
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, the Labour: Coast & Country.