Labour try to copy Green Party branding

You can always tell that a political party is in trouble, because its MPs start using different branding: in the past, we’ve witnessed Tories using Labour red; now, we’re seeing Labour using green – a colour most commonly associated with the Green Party:

Labour is a lean, green, election losing machine

We’ve been through this before, and we know what the excuse is:

‘It’s not Green Party green – it’s House of Commons green‘.

The problem with this argument is that we’re not that gullible, and we know exactly what these politicians are doing.

When an MP puts out promotional materials, it should be clear what party they’re promoting. The reason parties have colours in the first place is to aid in this.

It goes without saying that Lucy Rigby is a House of Commons MP; what her constituents want to know is which party she represents and what values she seeks to uphold.

As Ed Sykes reported for the Canary on 8 December:

After a year and a half in charge of Britain, Keir Starmer’s Labour has clearly become a toxic brand. Starmer is the least popular prime minister ever, and a 3 December poll had the party at just 14%, four whole points behind a surging Green Party. So it’s no wonder many Labour MPs – even on Starmer’s top team – seem to have been distancing themselves from Labour branding.

The problem, of course, is that switching colours will only get you so far. People’s issue with Starmer’s Labour Party isn’t the brash, rose red of their branding; it’s the fact that the government is tinkering around the edges while the floor keeps falling out from under us.

Sykes added:

As Labour MPs and others attacked Green Party leader Zack Polanski in recent days, some people highlighted that one attack came from an MP consistently avoiding Labour branding and using neutral House of Commons-style branding instead:

Sykes also noted:

In 2010, Labour and the Tories both tried some rebranding to secure power, with the Tories going for a green tree to make them look a bit friendlier. And after 14 years proving they were anything but friendly, Conservative candidates started avoiding the Tory blue, using purple, green, and even red in campaign leaflets instead. They seemed positively desperate to distance themselves from what the party has done to the country since 2010.

It’s not a positive sign that UK politicians frequently feel a need to distance themselves from their own parties.

The future is Green

Until the past 12 months, the Greens were never serious contenders. Now, it’s clear Labour MPs are taking them deathly seriously.

And as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Featured image via Lucy Rigby