STORIES MATTER

The local elections in England were a disappointment to all bar the Conservative Party. Positive spinning can obscure the outcome but the gains in councils and councillors provide solid evidence of the continuing electability of Conservative Party candidates. So how can this be explained? As significant is how should the other parties respond?

My first suggestion that the response should be honest. This means not falling into the trap of saying not enough of the usual practices were done, by which I mean things like mass leafleting, door-to-door calling. The issues are deeper than that, the opposition parties have been losing for a long time.

My second suggestion is that stories matter. Although these were local elections, is it really local stories that swing voters? Maybe where the opposition parties already have a presence and have a track record to highlight, but breaking into a new ward what will voters refer to as their reference point? Is it likely to be the national image of the party? In this case, the underlying philosophy of the party will become important, except that most voters may be unaware of what that philosophy is. All they may be aware of is the image, the projection of ideals that the party stands for, in other words, the stories the part tells. This is not to say that the stories are fiction, only that they are tale that embody what the party want people to see as it essence, what it stands for and why that should be important to you as a voter, as an individual, as a member of a community.

If the stores we as parties tell are important, then what sort of stories were being told during the local elections? Were the stories easy to understand? Did they have the advantage of being the continuation of an existing narrative? Did they offer a clear picture of the he world should look like? Were they positive, hopeful stories? Did the voters know the stories and did those stories resonate with them, with their everyday lives?

So can you identify the stories that embody the values of each party? Are the stories he Conservative Party tell easier to understand, more hopeful, more appealing to the fearful? Do other parties define their stories, if they do at all, as direct comparisons to the Tory stories – if so then aren’t these stories merely extensions of the Tory story? All opposition parties have rich histories of stories, of successes, of deep convictions and values. Are these getting smothered by the need to focus on criticism, on minute detail and on the technicalities of running local elections? If voters have no idea what the opposition parties stand for, how what they offer is different from the party in power, how that offer is practical, different and relatable, then why should they vote for change?