No clear message

The argument

How could Labour hope to deliver a clear message when its leader would not reveal how he would campaign in the event of a second Brexit referendum? The 2019 general election was touted as the Brexit election, and a party contesting it without a clearly defined position on the very question that gave the election its name was setting itself up for failure — the more so with its leader seemingly at odds with his party and the supporters over the issue. The timing compounded the problem. When Corbyn did finally reveal his stance, two weeks into the 2019 election campaign, he vowed to stay neutral in the event of a second referendum. Two weeks is a long stretch of a short campaign, and when the position did arrive it was both late and, for many voters, unsatisfying: a leader declining to say which outcome he actually wanted on the defining question of the day. In doing so, he curtailed his party's ability to become a leading voice on the single biggest issue in the 2019 election, leaving a path for the Conservatives to hammer home their message and emerge as the most decisive party on Brexit. That the vacuum was filled is measurable rather than merely inferred. In the run-up to the election, YouGov polls consistently showed that the British public had a much clearer understanding of the Conservatives' Brexit policy — which is what a contest between a defined position and an undefined one will produce, regardless of which position voters happen to prefer. And the failure was avoidable. Labour could have delivered a far clearer message by taking a clear stance after the European elections in May, months before the campaign began and while there was still time for a position to become familiar.

Context

Labour’s messaging on Brexit was muddled from the start. Unlike the Conservatives, that had a clear message of “get Brexit done”, Labour was indecisive and only tacked towards remain at the eleventh hour. Whenever Labour has won election victories in the past (think 1997, 1966 and 1945), it has been able to deliver a clear message and tell a compelling story. In 2019, Labour had no story or message.

Premises

Counter-arguments

Labour’s Brexit message was exceptionally clear. It was essentially the sole goal of the People’s Vote campaign. Labour vowed to hold a second referendum with the option to remain and the terms of a government-negotiated Brexit agreement. The issue wasn’t that Labour didn’t have a clear policy, it was that the hostile British media deliberately muddied the waters for deliberately partisan ends.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Labour had a very clear message on Brexit.