WATCHING the election unfold in a packed-out pub in central London full of young people of a leftish persuasion and those who hadn’t voted masochistically for the Conservatives, the big screen continually flashed up images of the Tory cabinet, invited onto the BBC to help twist the knife in a little bit more. Soon the atmosphere dissipated as more Labour seats were lost. The drinks flowed and bar snacks were consumed in the distraught manner of relatives trying to stave off their sorrow at a funeral party.

Elsewhere some very expensive champagne was being poured into some equally expensive glassware and, even further away, half-interested souls switched over to the election coverage to see what new set of suits were going to be fucking them over. It couldn’t get much worse. Then Michael Gove came on screen. A pretty grim experience. The country voted for insularism. For 1,000,000 foodbanks. For a punitive welfare system. For the easy option of blaming the defenceless for Britain’s problems instead of trying to recognise the real source. The population heard that austerity was helping “balance the books” and some probably told their lefty friend this as if impatient that a child couldn’t swallow its medicine. Did they stop to wonder on whose backs these books are balancing? 

A vote is of course a personal choice. But this description is more loaded for a Tory vote so obviously devoid of social conscience. It is important now to try to halt this soulless shift to the right. There are pressures we must all put on this Frankenstein of a government, made up as it is of different insidious elements that have gifted it power and contributed to its popularity. First, the voting system needs reforming so that it fairly reflects the voting preferences of the people. Over a million voted for the Green Party and it only gained one seat.

The new Avaaz petition neatly summarises this: “We urge you to implement a voting reform review which looks at alternatives, voting age and the process of registration as one of the first acts of Parliament.” I urge you to sign it. Second, by reading an article in the co-operatively owned Morning Star you are already disengaging from the narratives the mainstream media like to trot out.

The wealth of proprietors, their relationship with politicians and the use of advertising should not dictate the standard or variety of news and opinions the public receives. The recent Leveson inquiry on phone hacking and other malpractice among newspapers was spun by mainstream media and debated on a definition of free media they alone determined. Commenting on the extent of misinformation among the public, journalist Jonathan Cook wrote: “We cannot imagine a different world, a different economic system, a different media landscape, because our intellectual horizons have been so totally restricted by the media conglomerates.”

How true. Independent journalists and those willing to take a stand against corporate corruption such as Peter Oborne should be more widely read and prioritised. Russell Brand, though often vilified, at least offers an alternative voice unfettered by an editor with cash and benefactors in mind. Murdoch and his ilk are more vulnerable when in competition with a modern-day media which resists monopolisation. 

A third issue to be tackled is the rise of nationalism. A federal system needs creating where power and wealth is more fairly devolved and distributed. A populism without the pound shop sign of Ukip should be promoted, where elites are forced to relinquish their hold over the rest of a country which doesn’t share their metropolitan interests. 

Criticism of the SNP has been based on a concept of Britishness that doesn’t really exist. Among the left, unionists saw Scotland as running away from what should be a common struggle against the city state of London which runs roughshod over the whole country. In England, the left has been bewildered by the sudden isolation of their politics in a country in which Ukip and the Tories have dictated national identity for so long. It is surely important now to accept the people’s choice in Scotland and attempt to regain some territory on what we think England should stand for.

These are just a few examples of the institutional corruptions that blight our political system. A lesson we must not follow, and one which Labour activists must resist, is any shift to the right in response to this election result. 

Many on the left, myself included, were willing to vote Labour because of a split imperative. We hated the Tories but also respected the places Ed Miliband seemed willing to go to in order to reverse the effects of the last five years. There are those involved in the current Labour Party leadership contest who follow the Blairite “big tent” strategy by suggesting the party should try to appeal to “aspirational, middle-class voters” rather than relying on a “core vote” strategy. If that path is followed, Labour is in danger of severing itself from its roots and founding principles completely. 

It does now seem that the party is close to a fundamental decision on its future. If it returns to Blairism and “blue Labour” politics, which Miliband’s campaign never moved too confidently away from, those of us on the left will need to seek other alternatives. Labour does still possess the support of trade unions, vital for working-class representation, and also commands a grassroots following among minorities of voters unrepresented in other political parties. 

It would be a mis-step to completely abandon such groups unless a credible alternative can be provided. The Greens don’t yet have significant influence over certain demographics but it is important to watch them mature as they move to address their support base.There are lessons for those of us who sat through that miserable election night, when we saw social democracy defeated in a display of TV presenters walking around an inflatable House of Commons or whatever gimmick was used to captivate an alienated electorate. 

Let’s organise and pressurise but, most importantly, think. Think about what we need to do to keep socialist ideas alive and relatable. Let’s make Cameron realise his victory will forever be the day the right won an election but lost the people.