Hewitt: We must win hearts and minds again
In a warning against complacency, Patricia Hewitt has told Labour Party activists that the party needs to win “hearts and minds all over again”.
The Trade and Industry Secretary and Minister for Women told the Labour Spring Conference that the Government was making a difference to families in Britain through programmes like Sure Start, the New Deal and the minimum wage.
But, the party needed a third term to implement pledges such as the extension of maternity pay, extended free nursery care and the right of all workers to enjoy eight paid bank holidays.
“The real threat to all those families and all those businesses right across our country is the threat of a Tory government,” she said.
Her warning against voter apathy comes ahead of Tony Blair’s keynote speech to the conference.
Mr Blair is also expected to warn Labour it cannot take a third victory for granted as protest votes and apathy could usher the Conservatives back into power.
In what is being trailed as highly personal speech, Mr Blair is also expected to focus on domestic, rather than foreign, issues and seek to move the debate on from Iraq.
Ms Hewitt urged her audience not to “let anyone believe it when the journalists and the pollsters say of course Labour is going to win”.
The election was not a foregone conclusion, she said, claiming “we don’t take anybody’s vote for granted”.
“Because if people don’t vote, or they vote for the Liberals or some other party just to send us a message, it’s the best chance the Tories have of getting back into power.”
Therefore, the party had to win “hearts and minds all over again” and persuade the public to back a Labour third term, she said.
