ON SEPTEMBER 12, following a Labour leadership campaign set alight by Jeremy Corbyn’s candidacy, he was elected with a resounding and unprecedented 60 per cent of the vote.

This election has ushered in a new chapter in the history of the Labour Party and indeed the labour and trade union movement.

Brush aside the smears and we have something very different on offer to before. This is a departure from the sharp suits, slick speeches and spin that have defined recent years.

We have a fundamentally decent man, talking about things that affect ordinary people in a way that they can relate to.

We are now almost two months into Jeremy’s leadership and he has cleared all of the obstacles thrown in front of him so far.

He has formed a shadow cabinet drawing the talents of MPs from all wings of the party, showing his openness to engage in and debate on policy issues.

He delivered a conference speech that really spoke to the party and began to reach out to the country, which we need to convince if we are to win. He has fundamentally changed Prime Minister’s Questions — much to David Cameron’s discomfort.

Quite frankly this is not going away and those that think they can wait it out and return to the way things were before the contest need to wake up.

This is an opportunity to have a real debate on issues that affect our country, listening to the ideas and experience of members from all parts of our party without allowing ourselves to be constrained by what we think we can say.

This is an opportunity to seize back the power to set the political narrative.

Let us offer a positive, radical and realistic alternative to the flawed Tory austerity programme. For too long the Tories have been allowed to set the agenda.

On social security we should set out a positive Labour plan that the country can get behind.

We should look to build a system that ensures no-one is forced into deprivation or despair, that looks after the elderly, the disabled and those who have fallen on hard times.
We should have a full and open discussion on an industrial policy for the whole of Britain.

The tragic consequences of the British steel debacle show the Tories as being industrially incompetent. We need a plan to identify and nurture the industries of the future and to ensure that all areas of the country benefit from well-paid jobs with decent terms and conditions.

To do this we need to set out a plan for skills and employment. This needs to work hand in hand with the industrial strategy and provide the skills and training required in the industries of the future. We need a plan so everyone has the opportunity of a real job, not the Tory legacy of phoney self-employment, zero-hours contracts or part-time work.

We should build a plan for an education system that encourages lifelong learning and that works for everyone. We should stop seeing educating our citizens as a financial burden and understand that helping people get on benefits us all.

We should develop an energy plan to ensure the lights stay on, to clip the wings of the “big six” firms to ensure people are put ahead of profit and to ensure that we are at the forefront of the battle against climate change.

We need a plan for the health of the nation that not only saves the National Health Service but invests in the wellbeing of our citizens.

The Tories have shown once again that they simply cannot be trusted with our NHS.

We need a plan for housing. We need to deliver quality, affordable housing so everyone can have a decent place to live and we need to do it in a sensible, environmentally sensitive, well planned manner. We need to end the piecemeal approach to housing that under Tory rules is allowing people to build anywhere they see a spare plot of land.

We need to develop a plan for industrial relations in the modern era. We need to work with trade unions and businesses to develop a workers’ charter that protects people in the workplace and checks the imbalance of bias towards the employer.

We need to involve everyone in these discussions.

We have hundreds of thousands of members and supporters up and down the country brimming with ideas, experience and enthusiasm.

We need to harness this energy and give people the opportunity to develop their ideas into policies and to put them into practice.

There are real problems in communities up and down the country but there are solutions in them too. Our branches need to become debating chambers once again and our people should be given the confidence to develop policies that could not only solve problems in their own community but scores of others across the country.

We need a positive vision to fire up our activists and a simple, credible message to take out into our communities.

We have more members than all of the political parties in Britain combined. These members will spread our message.

We need to go town by town, street by street and door by door to convince voters that we are the positive alternative that they have been searching for.

This is a defining moment for the modern Labour Party and we need to grab it with both hands. It will not be easy, but for labour and trade union activists, it never has been. This is an exciting time and I am proud to be part of it.

Ian Lavery is Labour MP for Wansbeck and shadow Cabinet Office minister.