It is true that politics in the US, and in New York, is quite different to our own. The lessons that should be drawn from Mamdani are those that are applicable beyond the New York context, in a new attentional political economy where people still yearn to be part of something.
Have I got your attention?
Much has been made of Mamdani’s digital campaign and ability to garner attention. It is not surprising because the content is compelling and he comes across as natural and authentic. We will return to that shortly. For now, let us assume that not every left politician will have Mamdani’s communication skills, but all of them are going to need to learn what works for them in the new media environment. If it doesn’t come naturally, then you have to try things out until you find what works for you, taking a leaf out of Gordon McKee’s book, for example. Not all of Zack Polanski’s content is incredibly compelling, but he keeps at it and much of it is effective. Peter Hyman has put forward some good ideas for what Keir Starmer could do to connect with the public through the digital – No.10 should be brave enough to try them. If attentional politics is here to stay, then Labour has to play the game and probably put a bit less energy into pleasing a lobby representative of the old politics.
But we shouldn’t overlook Mamdani’s charisma either. It is perhaps no surprise that he emerged as an outsider candidate. Indeed, being some form of outsider is a common thread amongst many of the great communicators in the United States. It is true of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders as it is of Barack Obama or Donald Trump.
Candidate selection processes should actively encourage people from outside the traditional mould of what makes a politician and be flexible enough to put talent before factional fealty. It would be better to prioritise communication skills in a new media environment and do away with media training that has become at best counterproductive and at worst actively damaging to the way politicians attempt to get across a message.
A defined aesthetic
Mamdani’s charisma was complemented by the look and feel of his campaign. It adopted a unashamedly ‘New Yorker' aesthetic inspired the city’s bodegas and taxis, as well as Mamdani’s South Asian background. It is a lesson taken on board recently by Catherine Connolly’s campaign in Ireland. It is easy to imagine a visual language for a campaign in England, that is proud and far more emotionally resonant than waving small flags. It’s easier still to envisage this working in local or regional campaigns speaking to the identities of those places in a way national campaign templates might struggle to do.
It also helps that Mamdani looks good. But note that doesn’t mean not wearing a suit. Labour need not oversteer and think that every politician must leave theirs at the dry cleaners. It is more about being comfortable in what you are wearing – if that means shunning the dark suits then do it, but not everyone has to.
A social basis
In all this, we must not forget that politics is about people. Successful attentional politics has a social basis; we are still social animals who want to be part of something. The foundation of that is people feeling respected, listened to, and that there is a little hope. It is not an accident that Mamdani was always listening, and his campaign focused incessantly on tackling affordability, which clearly resonated. It has taken quite a while for Labour to focus in on living standards, and that may partly reflect listening not always being the default mode of the party.
That could change through deep listening outside of election season and putting significant resource behind that. Community organising should be embraced and connections built with those organisations that make up grassroots civil society but see a void between them and the Labour Party. This should be reflected in digital communication, so people know that this work is happening. It is as much about building trust and showing respect as it is about shaping a party platform.
Learning the right lessons
There are lessons to learn from Mamdani, less in terms of what political platform is right for this moment but in terms of a political approach that can win in an attentional political economy and that people can be a part of. Labour has a New York minute to put it into practice.
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Josh works on campaigns and public affairs at JRF, but writes here in a personal capacity.
All blog posts represent the views of the author alone and not necessarily those of Mainstream.
