I have fought against the odds and won, and I will do so again for Labour

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/09/labour-deputy-leadership-rushanara-ali

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The British people have been clear. Labour’s electoral annihilation in Scotland was the culmination of decades of growing discontent. In England working-class voters deserted Labour en masse for Ukip, middle-class voters turned to the Greens as well as the Tories, and 1 million ethnic minority voters backed a Conservative government. What we witnessed was not just defeat but, across the UK, a deeply rooted crisis of direction and identity for Labour.

In spite of this however, there remains a progressive majority among the British electorate, and I believe that we can emerge stronger than ever against a Tory government elected largely out of fear, and which faces huge challenges holding itself together with a wafer-thin majority.

Labour has a vast national membership, a committed base of loyal activists, experienced parliamentarians and a talented new generation of politicians. The question is only whether we will take the bold steps needed to transform ourselves into a modern party of the 21st century. I have announced my candidacy in Labour’s deputy leadership election to help ensure that we do.

My own life reflects the best of Labour values, and the belief that everyone can move up. I’m the daughter of immigrants, the first in my working-class family to go to university. My father came to Britain in the 1960s on a restaurant worker’s visa to work in Bethnal Green. It was his lottery ticket to a land of opportunity and he never let us forget it. He even did a stint at Claridge’s polishing the silver, though of course he had to enter by the back door. My own opportunities were hugely helped by having as my mentor the author of Labour’s 1945 manifesto, the late Michael Young. He showed me how to pass on that ambition through the many grassroots campaigns, charities and social enterprises I’ve helped set up to inspire young people to realise their potential.

I have first-hand experience in forging electoral renewal out of the toughest and most challenging of political circumstances. In 2007, I was selected to stand against George Galloway’s Respect party in Bethnal Green & Bow. Few thought we could win the seat back and there was deep and often open hostility towards me and my party. But we reached out to people, including many who hated us, we reorganised, we listened to those who said we’d taken them for granted. We regained the seat with a majority of nearly 12,000 and doubled that figure this year, earning 61% of the vote.

I know how vital it is to build a coalition to win, and that means across social backgrounds, across left and right, among diverse communities, and by engaging young people. I co-founded Futureversity, which has helped 100,000 young people gain skills and training. I took part in a programme to get almost 10,000 young people registered to vote for the first time. I understand the mechanics of engagement, not just the rhetoric. So how do we win again?

In my campaign for the deputy leadership I’m championing the same commitment to unlocking the talents of our members and supporters and spreading democracy and enfranchisement through our party. We need to become a party of action not just of words. The Labour movement is full of people with skills and assets, so let’s take forward the volunteering spirit of the 2012 Olympics and broaden our party and trade union movement to build a party of community and volunteers so that when we see a problem, we can help fix it. I would love to sign up 1 million mentors by 2020, from within and outside the Labour movement, to help the million young people struggling to get training and work.

Labour has a big challenge in appealing to the different electorates of Scotland, Wales, the north, and the south. Our core appeal should be common but I want to see a federalised party with distinct regional identities engaging with an increasingly diverse nation.

We do best when we engage. I will help us to build our way back from the roots up, expanding our digital campaigns and rebuilding the face-to-face relationships we need with voters on the doorstep. We need to emulate parties such as Podemos in Spain, which have had huge success in building a movement of new members and supporters.

When I stood for parliament, I heard “you’re too young, you’re a woman, you’re not one of us, you can’t win, you’re not experienced enough”. But I proved my critics wrong, and I can again. Because I have the experience Labour needs to be a more open party, rooted in our proud heritage and connected to the future, a party that smashes down invisible doors, a party with civic activism deep in its DNA. We need to reshape our movement, spreading power to members and reconnecting with the electorate.