After yet another crisis survey, several mayors of the PA are asking for clearer communication. They say it is difficult to defend a lack of measures for those with less.
– Yes, yes… Mayor Stanley Wirak (AP) told Sandnes when he received a call from VG about the latest figures on the Labor Party crisis.
ON The measure of our country the Labor Party (PA) receives only 15.4 per cent of support. If this were the election result, it would be the worst election in 116 years. It was 1906, in a world without television and cheese graters, where the center party did not yet exist and only men had the right to vote.
And while Ap continues to sink in the Vårt Land survey, Høyre continues to rise.
We are probably going through a bad time, but we have to trust that with the right measures this can be turned around, and we just have to go within ourselves and look at why we lack trust between people. I think Hadia points to important things, Wirak says.
Former PA deputy leader Hadia Tajik said on Tuesday in an interview with VG that the party must dare to rethink and advocated raising child benefits and introducing a tax on it.
– Jonas dares to defend him
There has been a lot of self-examination in the Labor party recently: In a crisis meeting in central government last week, they agreed to better present the policy and improve communication.
Wirak in Sandnes describes the Giske debate which caused an uproar in the party as a “major derailment”.
– It is terribly difficult to say that we are overflowing with money in this country, but we cannot spend money on those who are worse off. That we can’t build nursing homes for those in need, for example. And everyone says we just need to cut back, but not on my road projects, not on my stuff, let others pay the taxes. We have a communication problem, but I think we will find a way to get back on our feet, she says.
He believes what AP is struggling with is bringing up the connection between inflation and spending too much money, but placates the party leader:
– I don’t have a solution, but we must have the courage to face this. And I think Jonas is a good leader because he dares to do it. Now it is hard and we must not let ourselves be discouraged. Then there’s the fact that Erna sits very still. You don’t have a single solution for anything.
– Are they doing well enough in the measurements?
– Precisely: It seems like it’s a good strategy to sit quietly when times are tough. But someone has to run the country and so I have faith in Jonas. We can turn the tables, but we must have the courage to face the big questions, he says.
Family allowance and housing allowance
Several Ap mayors that VG has been in contact with point to the same thing: the price hike is hitting people hard. Additionally, small businesses are struggling with electricity bills and fuel prices are frustrating.
Even in places where AP has had high local support, such as Austrheim in Nordhordaland, they are concerned about the national performance.
– I have faith in our good social democratic policy, but it requires that we manage to make it clearly visible to all our potential voters, answers Mayor Per Lerøy (AP) to VG’s question.
He believes it is vital that the government overcomes the price hike, but also believes it is about showing clearer direction through measures against the financially disadvantaged.
– The government should also implement powerful measures to secure the finances of the country’s poorest. Differential family allowances, higher social assistance and a higher housing allowance can be good tools here, she says.
Gjerdrum Mayor Anders Østensen says the people he speaks to are generally frustrated that these are challenging economic times for families.
– Expect solutions to be produced that lower the prices of food, electricity and fuel and to be provided with more comprehensible explanations as to why the rent needs to go up. A lot of people think the government isn’t fixing this fast enough, and I think more people than before have very strong opinions about what’s causing these conditions and what should be done. It is difficult to explain the austerity and sobriety in the state budget when we make a lot of money from high oil and gas prices and have a large oil fund.
– Rising prices scare more
Mayor Hans Thue of Nannestad says people who contact him mainly deal with local issues in which he believes the party has great faith.
– People are obviously concerned about electricity costs. But it appears that the overall cost picture for the household economy is about to become more important than electricity. Constantly rising food prices, fears about the general rise in prices and, last but not least, the interest rate situation are worrying. As knowledge of electricity subsidies has grown, it’s probably the general rise in prices that scares the most, he says and adds:
– If not, I perceive quite unison agreement that the increase in taxation on salmon and power is right and at the right time.
– What should the party do differently to reverse the trend?
– Party can get better with shades. The general countermeasures against inflation and expensive time are easy to understand. It is more difficult to find an academic basis and a political sounding board for the lack of exemptions for the most disadvantaged.
– We can’t live with this
County head Frode Fjeldsbø in Rogaland has also gotten used to answering phone calls about incorrect measurements.
– These are terribly bad figures for Ap, we cannot live with them. Here we have to roll up our sleeves and give better results, she says.
– Do you think you started the job well to correct it then?
– The figures don’t indicate it, but it wasn’t done in one fell swoop.
Lise Selnes in inlandet Ap makes a brief comment:
– Everyone is now living a more demanding daily life, especially those who have less than before. For Innlandet Ap, it is more important than ever to be able to implement a secure and redistributive policy. Despite the incorrect measurements, we must be able to stay together. Now it’s more important than ever.
Working on it
County leader Mona Nilsen in Nordland says there is no ‘quick fix’ to correct crisis polls and Labor must turn the tide ‘as a team’.
– We just have to work very hard both to bring out the politics we have and to ask ourselves: are we doing the right thing, do we have good enough communication, are we hitting the mark in relation to what people experience, what are the problems now in life everyday? There is no doubt that even if there are difficult times, we are responsible.
