According to Andrew Adonis writing in yesterdays Observer “To most people, even those with strong political and social views, the party system is an irrelevance. This, in a nutshell, is the problem of modern politics that Ed Miliband is seeking to solve with the most radical set of reforms to the Labour party since 1918.” This echoes a piece in Fridays Independent written by Oliver Wright and based on an interview with Miliband minor himself. “Talk quietly to any senior political figure from any major political party today and they all express the same concern. How do they connect with a public that often cares passionately about political issues but despises party politics?” It would be fantastic if these pieces and indeed the narrative that lies behind them then showed a commitment from these men to work with others outside of the Party structures to find new mechanisms for national governance. It is clear that the Political Parties have served many of us well within their limitations, and should be acknowledged for that, but whatever lies ahead cannot be the same old system with a new coat of paint and a new logo. It seems inevitable that in a transition from the old to the new that the current parties will still play a significant part in our national discourse, but not the strangle hold that they maintained for most of the 20th Century.

The piece in the Independent goes on “There is this myth that people don’t care about the things that are happening around them because people are turned off political parties,” he says. “The truth is that people are turned off political parties but care hugely about zero-hours contracts, childcare … the care for their elderly mum. They just don’t think the politics represents them. Mr Miliband adds – with some justification – that some of the most important and radical changes to British society in the past 100 years have not come top-down from Westminster, but bottom-up from campaigns which politicians have then latched on to.” However sadly the piece does not go as far as to explain how the Party will use its resources and experience to help strengthen and inform the next wave of bottom up campaigns, rather than simply waiting for them to emerge and then once again claiming them as a party totem. The work of Movement for Change is something that needs to be promoted and acknowledged by the party, in a manner that displaces some of the traditional and rather boring canvassing activity that in practice the party structure feels most comfortable with. If similar networks exist within other parties they need to do the same. However once the activists drawn to them begin to come up with ideas and concerns that are not ‘party policy’ then the movements need to be given space to develop these ideas, and where appropriate endorse and support the policies of other parties. I am not a member of any Party, I have no formal affiliation with any, but I do feel an affinity for the work in Brighton and Hove being carried out under M4C. If it informs Labour Party policy, this can only be good, but what counts most is if it improves the housing conditions for young people (and not so young) in the City.

I guess the real test will be if someone who has cut their teeth on M4C decides to engage in formal politics and stand as a Councillor or MP, but not as a member of any Political Party. Will the local Labour Party be willing to see that they share sufficient values to not oppose them, wishing them all the best, despite the lack of accountability to any party machine? Or what happens if they decide to stand for another Party?