Taking on the big, serious challenges has been Labour's exclusive domain

By Ali Moussavi

Inevitably, in the coming days and weeks, a number of perspectives will arise as to how 12-year incumbent governments can turn the tide of negative poll-ratings. The spike in the usage of verbs such as 'renew', 'revive' and 'realise' is testament to this.

While there are valuable contributions to be made, debates on future direction are the irreversible side-effects of a 15-point polling deficit. When the weather was good, no one uttered a word about values – it was plain and clear for all – New Labour is a party of third-way social democracy. If you wanted a debate on values, you would be told to look at the back of your membership card.

Some have tried to argue that the absence of a debate on Labour's future direction is the cause, not the symptom, of its position in the polls. This is incorrect. Some Labour MPs need only look across the chamber and they'll see a party in desperate need of such a debate who shockingly enough are 15 points ahead.

This is the discussion to be had, and it will remain pertinent long after Tuesday's poll numbers have crumbled into dust.

The present Conservative Party is a city built on a fault-line – a fault-line which has existed for as long as 24-hour news cycles have: that between believing in something and winning something. Some parties win precisely because of what they believe. Others win because of a plethora of other reasons ranging from hair styles to cycling to 'Now for Change'.

In many ways, the secure foundations of this city are a lazy anti-incumbent press. Some commentators ascribe too much power to the press' ability to shape the outcome of elections - the so-called 'Sun Wot Won It' factor. While the press does not decide the outcome, it certainly decides which arena the battle takes place in.

Polls show that even the public are very conscious of David Cameron being a leader who enjoys the luxury of opposition and benefits from free rides. Even after this last summer – arguably a good one for the Tories on the spending/cuts debate – we forget that it only kicked off because a shadow cabinet minister committed a major league gaffe by revealing the extent of the fault-line in his party. To realise this free ride, one need only consider how hesitant the Tories were to talk about cuts before June.

Across the country, Labour activists are considering which conference fringe events to attend. It never hurts to talk about 'the future of the Labour Party'. Political parties are meant to be structured on debate and this should be the case both when they are 15 points down and 15 points up.

However, all too often, activists forget that the present dividing line isn't between Compass and Progress, but between a party that stands tall in an economic storm by taking action and a party that hides under the bedsheets, opposing what every sane economist supported.

The 'dog ate my homework' excuse for an agenda only works for the Conservatives time and time again because the press humours them. Getting Britain out of recession, balancing the budget and taking on global challenges like international security, climate change and the economic crisis are direction for the Labour Party. And if some activists wonder where we will go before and after the election, whatever the result, the answer is closer to home than they think.

Photo: Downing Street, Flickr