A new year of hope

Welcome to the start of a new year which, amongst other things, will be defined by the sheer volume of elections taking place. In the UK, local elections will happen in May alongside those for the Mayor of London and (at some delayed point) a General Election. Globally, Presidential elections will be taking place in the US, Indonesia, Russia, Mexico and Rwanda (amongst others).  

This makes Keir Starmer’s new year speech this morning worth reading simply for underlying the engagement challenge that faces every politician. Motivate a cynical audience that their vote matters and encourage people to not only turn up to vote but get out and campaign.  

For Labour politicians, it needs both stick and carrot. The stick is that without voting, the Tories continue. The carrot is the hope that change is possible because of the power of voting. Today’s speech led with the positive and echoed an interesting read from The Good Agency on the potential of the Hope Economy. It sets out how the mantra of purpose evolves into an acknowledgement that we all – business, politicians and communities alike - have a role to play in tackling the challenges we face as a society. Definite inspiration for the year ahead. 

#leaders #elections