Labor Lines: Could Labor do a Leicester?

In the most financially lop-sided sports competition in the world, dominated by the big four clubs – Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal –  plus Johnny-come-lately gazillionaires Manchester City, the lowly Leicester only just avoided relegation last season but now holds the trophy.

I could talk more about the financial inequality in the English Premier League – including the fact that the whole Leicester team cost less in transfer fees than one Manchester United player. But I won’t, as that would be class warfare and apparently that is not allowed in polite society!

What I will talk about instead is that in September 2015 when the EPL season was underway, no one would have given Leicester City a chance at winning the title. With one exception in the early 1990s, no team outside the big five has won the title.

But we all now know that they are now the Champions.  

And who didn’t feel a bit emotional when watching long-suffering Leicester City fans when they won – or the childlike excitement, jumping, hugging of the Leicester City players when they knew that the Championship was theirs.

So, what’s this got to do with Labor and the election.

Well, in September 2015 if you had asked anyone about Labor’s chances in the 2016 election, you would’ve been laughed at.  

The Liberals had a new leader and the nation a new Prime Minister who was supposedly unbeatable.  

But, like Leicester City, Labor had a game plan and stuck to it.

Leicester’s game plan was positive but high-risk – letting the other team have most of the possession but then playing long balls and counter-attacking with ferocity.  

Labor’s game plan was to avoid being a small target but to put out positive policies early and often – and then calmly explaining them and not being put off by criticism.

Even when Leicester started putting some wins together, they were still written off – as if the inevitable would happen and one of the big clubs would overtake them.  But they kept to the game plan.

Labor has been written off ever since the Liberals changed their leader. But rather than making it a personality contest, Labor has stuck to its game plan and kept on putting out positive policies.

And now we have a real contest on our hands.  

Leicester won the Premier League with a committed team on the field and passionate supporters cheering them on – and many more hopping on the bandwagon.

And if enough Australian and Yass Valley voters don’t just cheer from the grandstand but mark a 1 on their ballot paper, then maybe – just maybe – Labor could do a Leicester.