Centre-left parties across Europe could shore up their slipping credibility by tackling the big issues on a broader stage
With Munich matched against Dortmund in the Champions League final at Wembley tonight, today is a day to remind us once again that Germans are uncommonly good at football. But they have always been pretty decent at centre-left politics too. No centre-left political party in Europe – and perhaps no centre-left party in the world – has been as important over the decades as Germany's Social Democratic party (SPD). Certainly no centre-left political party has a history to match that of the SPD, which gathered in Leipzig this week to mark the 150th anniversary of its foundation there in 1863 under the leadership of Ferdinand Lassalle.
But this week's gathering was not just of historical interest. Few parties have grappled more conscientiously or more often – and sometimes at greater cost – with the big questions that face democratic parties of the centre-left in dramatically changing times. That was true in the eras of the party's legends – Bernstein, Bebel, Ebert, Brandt and Schröder among them. And it is still true today in the era of Peer Steinbrück, the SPD's candidate to replace Angela Merkel – who was a guest in Leipzig this week (they do these things differently in Germany) – as chancellor in September's elections.
These are historically difficult times for the SPD. When Willy Brandt became postwar Germany's first social democratic chancellor in 1969, the SPD took 44% of the votes. When Gerhard Schröder became the first SPD chancellor since reunification, in 1998, the party won 41%. But in 2009, in Germany's most recent general election, the SPD polled a record low of 23%, its worst result of modern times. Today, with a general election only four months away, the polls look little better. Under Mr Steinbrück, the SPD has barely improved on its 2009 share. The latest Infratest dimap poll for ARD television yesterday has the SPD on just 27%.
In some respects this is an unfair verdict on the SPD's modern achievements. Germany's prosperity, export-led boom and continuing position as the dominant economy in the eurozone – the source of continuing security among German voters – owes at least as much to Mr Schröder's Agenda 2010 labour market reforms during his last term as chancellor a decade ago, as it does to Mrs Merkel's pragmatic but cautious handling of the global financial crisis since she ousted Mr Schröder in 2005.
Yet a significant segment of SPD voters have never forgiven Mr Schröder for his welfare-to-work cutbacks on long-term benefits to the unemployed. Mr Steinbrück is struggling to win these voters back. Today, the party remains divided between a more uncompromising left wing and a more pragmatic right – a bit like it was in Bernstein's time a century ago.
The SPD is not alone in that. France's socialist president François Hollande, who spoke in praise of Mr Schröder's reforms in Leipzig this week, has just notched his worst net approval ratings – minus 47 – since becoming president. Ed Miliband, also briefly in Leipzig before, maybe unnecessarily, putting the Woolwich murder first, boasts higher party ratings, but still trails David Cameron in the polls as preferred prime minister. Across Europe, most centre-left parties are losing credibility.
One reason these parties are in eclipse is that they promise security and fairness but struggle to deliver on the national level. If modern capitalism is to be made to act responsibly over issues such as tax havens, financial transactions and bank regulation, centre-left parties need to grasp that these issues are better gripped on a broader stage. It is surely at least worth considering whether Europe's centre-left parties would have more credibility if they could offer a Europe-wide programme. It would be a positive alternative to the pull-up-the-drawbridge message of parties such as Ukip in next year's European elections. Parties of the centre-left unite. You may not have a world to win. But a better election showing would surely be a start. Reported by guardian.co.uk 17 hours ago.
With Munich matched against Dortmund in the Champions League final at Wembley tonight, today is a day to remind us once again that Germans are uncommonly good at football. But they have always been pretty decent at centre-left politics too. No centre-left political party in Europe – and perhaps no centre-left party in the world – has been as important over the decades as Germany's Social Democratic party (SPD). Certainly no centre-left political party has a history to match that of the SPD, which gathered in Leipzig this week to mark the 150th anniversary of its foundation there in 1863 under the leadership of Ferdinand Lassalle.
But this week's gathering was not just of historical interest. Few parties have grappled more conscientiously or more often – and sometimes at greater cost – with the big questions that face democratic parties of the centre-left in dramatically changing times. That was true in the eras of the party's legends – Bernstein, Bebel, Ebert, Brandt and Schröder among them. And it is still true today in the era of Peer Steinbrück, the SPD's candidate to replace Angela Merkel – who was a guest in Leipzig this week (they do these things differently in Germany) – as chancellor in September's elections.
These are historically difficult times for the SPD. When Willy Brandt became postwar Germany's first social democratic chancellor in 1969, the SPD took 44% of the votes. When Gerhard Schröder became the first SPD chancellor since reunification, in 1998, the party won 41%. But in 2009, in Germany's most recent general election, the SPD polled a record low of 23%, its worst result of modern times. Today, with a general election only four months away, the polls look little better. Under Mr Steinbrück, the SPD has barely improved on its 2009 share. The latest Infratest dimap poll for ARD television yesterday has the SPD on just 27%.
In some respects this is an unfair verdict on the SPD's modern achievements. Germany's prosperity, export-led boom and continuing position as the dominant economy in the eurozone – the source of continuing security among German voters – owes at least as much to Mr Schröder's Agenda 2010 labour market reforms during his last term as chancellor a decade ago, as it does to Mrs Merkel's pragmatic but cautious handling of the global financial crisis since she ousted Mr Schröder in 2005.
Yet a significant segment of SPD voters have never forgiven Mr Schröder for his welfare-to-work cutbacks on long-term benefits to the unemployed. Mr Steinbrück is struggling to win these voters back. Today, the party remains divided between a more uncompromising left wing and a more pragmatic right – a bit like it was in Bernstein's time a century ago.
The SPD is not alone in that. France's socialist president François Hollande, who spoke in praise of Mr Schröder's reforms in Leipzig this week, has just notched his worst net approval ratings – minus 47 – since becoming president. Ed Miliband, also briefly in Leipzig before, maybe unnecessarily, putting the Woolwich murder first, boasts higher party ratings, but still trails David Cameron in the polls as preferred prime minister. Across Europe, most centre-left parties are losing credibility.
One reason these parties are in eclipse is that they promise security and fairness but struggle to deliver on the national level. If modern capitalism is to be made to act responsibly over issues such as tax havens, financial transactions and bank regulation, centre-left parties need to grasp that these issues are better gripped on a broader stage. It is surely at least worth considering whether Europe's centre-left parties would have more credibility if they could offer a Europe-wide programme. It would be a positive alternative to the pull-up-the-drawbridge message of parties such as Ukip in next year's European elections. Parties of the centre-left unite. You may not have a world to win. But a better election showing would surely be a start. Reported by guardian.co.uk 17 hours ago.