At 8.06am on January 17th, 1977, thirty six year old American career criminal and convicted murderer Gary Gilmore was facing his own death.
For the two deaths he was responsible for in Utah he was about to be executed by firing squad, the first person in almost ten years to be executed in the United States.
His last words were: “You know, let’s do it”
It’s not the nicest of origin stories for one of the most famous advertising tag lines in history, but it is nonetheless out of that death that Nike’s famous “Just Do It” campaign was born. Cofounder of the advertising firm Wieden and Kennedy, Dan Weiden subsequently revealed:
“I remember when I read that I was like, that’s amazing. I mean how, in the face of that much uncertainty, do you push through that? So I didn’t like the ‘let’s’ thing, and so I just changed that, cause otherwise I’d have to give him credit,” Wieden joked
Whilst I have bought the products that slogan was designed to sell, I’m not buying that Gilmore was really facing ‘uncertainty’ in that moment, but these days there is as much uncertainty about as there are pairs of Nike trainers. The slogan and campaign took Nike’s profits from $877 million to $9.2 billion in worldwide sales in ten years. An economic growth record any chancellor might envy but that’s by the by – or more accurately – by the buy.
What kicked this story into my mind was a conversation with a senior Conservative about the fifth anniversary of Brexit and beyond. They were honestly and sincerely trying to dig into some of the problems not just besetting the party, but UK politics:
“After that referendum everyone just became armchair pundits. There seemed to be this need to be right, and anyone who didn’t agree was to be insulted and brought down. Some with good reputations just lost the plot. Since then, left or right, people feel the need to pick a side, and in the worst ‘them and us’ framing. You’ve now got the normalisation of the idea you have to shout out you view whilst shouting down everyone else’s. Now the climate of debate is one thing, and it’s toxic certainly, but the worst thing was we actually all stopped doing things. Just talking about why they should be done. Every single party, forgot getting stuff done and how you do it.”
Of course they loyally defended things that were done in 14 years – it’s one of those Labour-Reform ‘necessary-myths’ that nothing good was achieved – but they conceded we were as guilty of the sentiment above as any. We spent time on who was right, and who was wrong and lost sight of what people wanted changed and just getting on with doing that. I argued in some cases we were getting on with doing it, but if it didn’t happen by the election, well then I have to accept, it doesn’t count.
I know many Conservatives do not agree being policy-free for a while is the right strategy. I also know many that do, also worry that time and Reform are not on our side. It’s a valid argument. It’s not the only argument.
Neither Reform nor the Conservatives can ‘just do it’ right now – and we don’t govern by Presidential executive order so no, it’s not about overweening will. My interlocutor was suggesting all opposition parties need to work out how they would, if given the chance, just get on with the ‘doing’. With actual experience of government they knew that doing that in a serious way is not an instant process. Solutions to problems in government aren’t simple, and if they are simple, they are almost never a solution. One solution is changing the way government works, but that is not done in a soundbite either.
Politicians should pay attention to the electorate. Always.
Specifically, now, to their reasonable question, looking at where the Tories failed, Labour are making mistakes, and Reform have no experience, is – “why can’t you just do it?” There is a real hunger in the electorate for actual change. Change they can feel. Services that work, rules that are obeyed, a country defended, streets that are safe, basic needs affordable, and the freedom to choose, speak, and to earn and spend your own money. Most parties at a basic levels aspire to delivering most of these things. That’s the easy bit.
Labour would claim they are attempting to ‘do’, I just can’t see how what they’ve done achieves it, and I think many in Labour are worried about that too. Reform still have momentum, and they may well maintain it. No sensible Conservative is ignoring that possibility, but neither party, for the next few years can – just do it. They are in opposition.
So patiently working out how you would just get on with doing things that achieve real results makes sense. It even does to Reform. They currently have no more detailed thought-through policy offer than is demanded from the Conservatives. What’s more they know this; at their last fundraiser the rumour is the money will go into the creation of a Reform aligned think-tank.
You know, those organisations I defended last week, but that draw such sneering opprobrium. It’s a smart move from Reform, if true, they will benefit from it. Policy won’t flow fast from a body that hasn’t been set up yet, but if I was in Reform I’d strongly argue it’s the right strategy.
It was Lenin who wrote the pamphlet ‘What is to be done?’ a hundred and twenty four years ago. I would seriously disagree with any of his solutions, but our politics needs that question tackling – and I hate to say it but that takes time and thought.
Whilst Labour keep stumbling on, the next election is still four years away. Labour’s large (though thin) majority will ensure that. In the meantime, the electorate want all politicians to ask themselves ‘what is to be done’ and then expect whoever they put in charge, to ‘just do it’. In terms of fixing things, whoever that is, they’d better be able to deliver. And neither party in closest contention with Labour can prove that right now.
Both parties on the right should focus on this because whatever you believe, nothing is inevitable and if you think it is, that’s your political weakness to be exploited. When the time comes, the result may not be the given you assume. Anything is possible, and that doesn’t rule out a total Reform political revolution, or a now much-dismissed-but-undervalued Conservative revival.
Either way, at ConservativeHome, what we will just do is keep the receipts safe, and offer them to both to comment on, when the time comes.