Politics now moves at a furious pace. It does so because the foundations beneath our feet, economically, ecologically, socially and technologically, keep shifting.
As progressives who want a much more equal and sustainable future, what matters is the agility to navigate and negotiate these chaotic times.
In all this the most important lesson that is emerging is that unless and until democratic structures and political culture are changed to enable a future that is negotiated and not imposed, then that good society will lose.
This is why Compass has continued to be Andy Burnham curious.
Not because one person, or even one party, can make the good society a reality alone. But because he happens to be the most popular politician in the country and has consistently argued that only when we change our democracy and our political culture, starting with electoral reform, will we be able to address the crises we face.
The system has to change before we can change society. His advocacy for proportional representation, and therefore for cross party pluralism, is not a nice-to-have but an essential principle of a good society.
He understands that the crisis of everything requires everyone. That good politics is about collaboration and contestation.
Like us, he knows that means shape ends.
So we’ve been battling for Andy in the media and in Labour, so that progressive and plural future can open up.
The hyperfactionalists who control the Labour Party machine have exerted their control once more.
But their grip is loosened every time they reveal how weak they are, their lack of trust, of confidence and their desperation to put faction before party and before country.
The seeds sowed for a new politics in Manchester have shown the way.
Compass members, Andy Burnham, and others from all progressive parties and none will continue to make hope possible.
If Labour lose the Gordon and Denton by-election could Andy Burnham contest a seat in the May by-elections?