Archived entries for Campaign Diary

Organising for success

Post-conference and with a new leader, Labour has a chance to start building. But it must seize the opportunity, bring together what has already been achieved and learn from choices made by others.

Back in 2008 when the Young Fabians came back from Ohio, having played our part in getting Barack Obama elected as President of the United States of America, our hopes were high that the same scale of political engagement we had seen in the US could be generated in the UK. Through outlets like the Young Fabians events, Progress-organised CLP meetings and on blogs like Labourlist, we actively sought to spread the word about what we had seen and what could be achieved.

Whilst some were encouraged by our thoughts and sort to integrate them into their own campaigns, many simply said “That just doesn’t work here”.

Post-leadership election there is one, very important lesson that the Obama campaign can teach us and which will work here. Once the dust had settled on Obama’s 50-state strategy, what was left was an enviable list of 13 million supporters, millions of volunteers, a network of interconnected grassroots structures and one goal: to keep them engaged. It was from that base that Organising for America (OFA) was born, led by Mitch Stewart and David Plouffe, and housed within the DNC. What they set out to achieve is incredible and the role the OFA now plays in Democratic politics is worth reading in its own right.

Just 29 days away from the US mid-terms, OFA has allowed Democrats and Obama supporters to phone voters, attend meetings, donate and take part in an offline/ online community campaign in a way that has built on the 2008 foundations. Even more importantly, it has helped Democrats speak out and above a hostile media to educate the electorate.

Post-leadership election our movement needs its own version of Organising for America, something that brings together all the best from the leadership campaigns and connects it with the best the Party has to offer. There are positive signs this is already happening. Ed Miliband has already stated that he wants the work of his brother’s ‘Movement for Change’ to continue. But there is no single silver bullet that will deliver the type of movement and grassroots organisation we need.

What has been lacking so far has been an entity with space to innovate and build, something that can bridge the progress in social media and blogging that has been seen over recent years with the disciplined offline, face-to-face, campaigning that saved so many seats at the last election. By linking both we can begin to politically educate people with an alternative to the cynical, anti-politics, media that currently drowns out everything else.

Finally we need a recognisable face that is responsible for delivering the overall strategy. From lowly door-knockers to regional organisers, everyone should know about the plan in which they are playing their part.  At the last election Douglas Alexander was critical in explaining the ‘word of mouth’ approach that worked so well. Whilst some might have been dubious of gimmicks, Douglas’ visibility instilled confidence, just as David Plouffe’s regular strategy updates in the US have encouraged activists to go the extra mile. The visible face at the front of our campaigning machine would encourage people to take ownership.

The main issue will be to start early. All too often political campaigns in the UK have been about the short-term – getting out your vote – rather than the long-term challenge of building  a cohesive and growing base of political will. So if we’re now all political optimists, then I think we need to start organising like optimists too.

My speech to conference

Reflecting on my experience as Cheltenham’s Parliamentary Candidate at the last General Election I wrote this speech to be delivered on the conference floor.

James Green. I was Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate in Cheltenham at the last election.

There are thousands of people in Cheltenham right now who feel let down.

The Liberal Democrats won the seat on the back Labour supporters who voted tactically to keep the Tories out. Throughout the campaign they pitched themselves as the only real left wing opposition to the Conservatives in the town.

Conference, how times have changed.

The Liberals are now the face of coalition cuts that will see departmental budgets reduced by 25%, of a VAT rise that will hit the poorest hardest, and, most fundamentally of all, of a Tory ideological drive to shrink the state.

We have become the only opposition in Cheltenham and across the country. The only home for those who oppose the Tory-Lib Dem coalition.

In opposing of course we must expose the Liberals. And that could pay dividends.

At the General Election I held my deposit by 0.1% of the vote but I’m confident that if there was a by-election today Labour would win Cheltenham by a landslide.

But on a serious note, exposing the Liberals will never be enough in itself. It’s vital that we avoid falling into the trap of attacking the Lib Dems while allowing Cameron to rise above the fray.

Conference, we must focus our fire on the driving force of this coalition, the Tories, and on exposing the impact of their regressive and ideologically driven cuts.

But at the same time our history tells us that we can’t rely on the unpopularity of the government alone to win. The public demand and deserve an alternative progressive vision for the country.

This must be credible.

Our approach to tackling the deficit will be seen by the public as the test of our credibility. Of course we should oppose cuts where they are wrong but we must face up to the structural issues within the UK economy which come not only from the bank bailout but also from an ageing population.

It must be ideological.

Conference, we know that that Tories want to shrink the state but you can’t fight ideology with policy alone. We must offer the public a powerful set of ideas rooted in the political and economic realities of today.

And finally it must be authentic.

Nye Bevan put it best when he said, “the first duty of the progressive representative is to reflect the views of those he represents authentically. Because then people know that you are seeking to represent them because they are your inspiration.”

Conference, the quality of life, the public services, the support offered to those who inspired us all to get involved in politics are under threat.

I’m relishing the fightback.

James Green, Anticipations Editor and former Parliamentary Candidate for Cheltenham

Why would someone want to fight an unwinnable election?

Young Fabian Jack Smith has chosen to fight his first election contest for a Tory safe council seat on Camden Council. Crazy? Here he tells us why it is an important campaign to fight for…

This is a question particularly apt for me at the moment as I am doing just that. I am the Labour Party candidate in the Frognal & Fitzjohns by-election for Camden Council and to say the ward is a Conservative safe seat would be an understatement. So why, you may ask, would someone spend their time putting together and running a full campaign for a council seat that has such a slim chance of success?

Firstly, this is the first time I have run for any form of public office and so I want the experience. Going canvassing with and for other people is interesting, invigorating and inspiring, however, until you run your own campaign, you cannot appreciate the intricacies and difficulties there are surrounding it. Running this campaign has taught me some of the ins and outs of organising, all of which will be invaluable if and when I want to stand again in the future.

Secondly, because of the nature of politics at the moment, this is a great time to go out and talk to people about things that are affecting them, and even better, I am finding they want to talk back!

I have so far discussed everything from rubbish collection to the balance between prevention and cure of crime. Now obviously, in a safe Tory seat, I have been encountering a lot of difference of opinion on such matters, however, the people I have most enjoyed talking to are people who voted Liberal Democrat in the last election. Generally, they are not happy at all with the coalition; however, they are yet to be convinced that the Labour Party offers a fairer, more equal, more progressive option. This is why I feel the campaign is so important.

This is one of the first opportunities we have had as a party since May 6th to go out and show the electorate that we are the only party that can provide a society where the most needy are protected and the proverbial ‘man/woman in the street’ gets the fairest deal.

If we can start convincing Lib Dem voters this early on in the current parliament that we are the party who they share their beliefs with, then we are well on the way to taking back parliament in 5 years time.

So come and join me this Saturday with other Young Fabians or on polling day, 22nd July, and help me win an unwinnable!

We’ll be helping Jack campaign this Saturday with a joint event with London Young Labour. For more details see here or contact me, Vincenzo Rampulla, vrampulla@youngfabians.org.uk / 07900 912587

This is where you should campaign tonight and tomorrow

Good luck for the final 28 hours for those of you hitting the campaign trail for Labour, especially those who are candidates themselves.

We’ve listed the seats that need your help on the Young Fabian website. There are key seats nationwide. If none of those listed are within easy travelling distance then you can enter your phone number on the Labour Party website, and someone will give you a call to help you out.

Offering even a short amount of your time will be appreciated by the local campaign teams, whether it is your first time or you have been campaigning for all of the last few weeks.

Do let us know how you get on …

A reminder of what this election is all about

Yesterday all three party leaders attended the Citizens UK May Day assembly. The biggest meeting of the General Election campaign, it is testament to the power of community organising to influence the decision making process. The meeting was attended by 2,500 people from 160 community organisations including churches, mosques, synagogues and trade unions.

I was fortunate enough to visit a Citizens UK meeting a few months ago. I had become interested in community organising following my time on the Young Fabians trip to Ohio for the Obama campaign. Barack Obama had been a community organiser in Chicago before running for the presidency and had talked on many occasions about the role that it can play in engaging communities in the issues that affect their lives.

At that meeting I was struck by just how powerful community organising can be. The room was rammed full of residents, passionate about bringing about change in their local communities. I met Muslims, Jews, Christians, Trade Unionists and many others. Few belonged to a political party but all were deeply involved in politics.

The Citizens UK assembly serves as a pertinent reminder of what this election is all about. In recent weeks there’s been a great deal of talk about which party is up and which party is down. But this election isn’t about the parties. It’s about the people. With polling day now on the horizon it’s important to remember that.

James Green is Anticipations Editor and Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Cheltenham. He blogs at www.jamesgreen.org.uk.

The Leaders’ Debates: My Verdict

The impact of the Leader’s Debates has been far greater than most people had predicted. I always thought they were going to be important. I just didn’t realise that they would become the backbone of the General Election campaign. For the last three weeks the debates have dominated the headlines. From the build up, to the debates themselves, to the blow by blow post-analysis.

What has struck me most of all is simply how many people have been watching them. Every part of Cheltenham I go to whether it’s St Mark’s or Oakley, Leckhampton or St Paul’s, people are tuning in. That can only be a good thing for democracy. The Leader’s Debates have reengaged a cynical public in the political process. At such a critical moment for our politics that is crucial.

But what I have most valued about the debates is that they have focused on the substance. They have offered a welcome change from the yah boo politics that has characterised British political life for far too long. Four and half hours of detailed policy debate – a real change from the tit for tat of Prime Ministers Questions.

I hope these debates mark the start of a new more nuanced political debate in this country. On the doorstep people tell me that they want the detail. The popularity of the debates highlights just how things can change when politicians begin to give it to them.

James Green is Anticipations Editor and Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Cheltenham. He blogs at www.jamesgreen.org.uk.

Vote for substance. Vote Labour.

As we enter the final two weeks of the General Election campaign all is still to play for.

Labour were the underdogs at the start. Now, following the Leader’s Debates, all bets are off. We are in unchartered waters. The only thing that’s certain is that this will be a transformative General Election.

Labour have been talking about the big issues from the outset and that is what we must continue to do. The twin crises of MPs’ expenses and the credit crunch provide the backdrop for this General Election campaign. People want substance not spin. They want practical measures to fix our broken politics and bold action to secure the economic recovery. Rarely has the outcome of an election been so important.

Labour are on the right side of these arguments. On political reform we are have pledged in our manifesto to hold a referendum on changing the voting system. This could herald the most substantial reform to Britain’s electoral system since women got the vote. On the same day we’ll hold a referendum on a fully elected House of Lords. My view is simple – if people make our laws they should be elected. And we’ll set up a Royal Commission to lead the way to a written constitution. People demand more than soundbites when it comes to constitutional reform. Labour’s manifesto is rammed full of substantial policies.

Yet, despite their rhetoric, on all these issues the Tories fall short. They talk about giving people greater power but refuse to back Labour’s plans to change the voting system. They talk about being progressive but blocked Labour’s efforts to remove the final hereditary peers from the House of Lords. Gordon Brown put it best when he said “the future will be progressive or conservative, but it will not be both.”

And on the great challenge of our time, securing the economic recovery, the Tories would put the long-term future of Britain’s economy at risk. The growth figures released last week showed that, while we are coming out of recession, the recovery is still fragile. If we make the wrong decisions and cut too early, as the Tories would have us do, we could risk falling into a double dip recession. Yet the Tories promise a new tax giveaway seemingly every week. Taking £6 billion out of the economy in National Insurance is the wrong thing to do. As is giving a £200,000 tax cut to the country’s 3,000 richest estates. The Tories priorities aren’t Britain’s priorities.

The decisions that are made in the next Parliament will shape life in Cheltenham and across the country for a generation. We need to make the right calls. The Tories were wrong on the recession and they are wrong on the recovery. They were wrong on the causes of our broken political system and they are wrong about how to fix it.

There is a real choice at this election. Vote for substance. Vote Labour.

My concerns about the Tories’ new European friends

Today’s Leader’s Debate, taking place here in the South West, will focus on foreign policy. I hope Gordon Brown will take Cameron to task about his friends in Europe.

Cameron’s decision to leave the mainstream centre right grouping in favour of a fringe group including homophobes and far right nationalists shows a serious lack of judgment. The views of his new partners on homosexuality, anti-semitism and climate change are massively out of kilt with the mainstream British majority. My outrage is likely only matched by that of the Tories’ old partners. Why Cameron would choose to abandon Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy for his current friends I will never understand.

Michael Kaminski, who leads the Tory MEPs in Europe, spoke out against the commemoration of the brutal massacre of Polish Jews in the town of Jebwadne during World War Two. Members of the same party have described homosexuality as a “pathology” and are outspoken climate change deniers. And what of Cameron’s other partners? His Latvian allies join in the annual commemoration of the Waffen SS. Concerning to say the least.

From climate change to terrorism, from international crime to the financial crisis, the great challenges we face go beyond our borders. We can face them alone, consigned to the fringes of Europe, with the Tories. Or continue to punch our weight in a crucial partnership with Labour.

Last week’s debate showed that, while Cameron may be able to do the set piece speeches, when pressed on the issues that matter he falls short. There is a real choice at the next election. I hope today’s debate will highlight that even more.

James Green is Anticipations editor and Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Cheltenham. He blogs at www.jamesgreen.org.uk.

Hope, Heat, and challenging Hate with 3000 leaflets – next up fighting Tory Cash

The biggest Young Fabian turnout yet last Saturday for our weekend campaign days – this time as we headed out to Transport House, Dagenham and the home of the Hope Not Hate campaign.

Turnout for the day was so high that the Valence ward pre-assigned to the Young Fabians had been delivered to already by the time we arrived

This was far and away the single most impressive campaign day I’ve seen in the UK – and ultimately the most reminiscent of the various campaigns I’ve taken part in in the US. It wasn’t so much about sophistication as style, scale and very good organisation.

The scale spoke for itself – over 540 volunteers and over 90,000 HNH newspapers delivered across the whole of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and into neighbouring Havering. And Young Fabian members more than played their part, forming part of the small group that stayed out in the unseasonal heat into the afternoon, and delivering almost 3,000 copies of the literature to households facing the hate-fuelled and hate-fuelling onslaught of the BNP.

Local Labour MP, and former candidate for deputy leader of the party, Jon Cruddas was driver for the day for part of the Young Fabian campaign team

Style-wise, this day of action was about solidarity, about feeling part of something big, and about being inspired. Inspired by the cause, but inspired by the hundreds of other people who’d given up their Saturday for it. Instantly upon arrival we felt part of something big and important and were driven to get out and contribute to the mammoth efforts of the day. It was exciting in the extreme and reminded me very much of the feelings of many of the Young Fabian members who took part in the delegation I led to Obama’s campaign in Ohio in 2008. But also, the style was one of supporting volunteers, making them feel welcome, helping them to do what they came to do, and thanking them for their efforts. I’ve written much about the importance of people-focused campaign organisation and the little things on Saturday – the one page of briefing and tips handed to volunteers – and the big things – providing lunchtime curry for 500 to accompany a set by activist musician Billy Bragg – really did make a difference to the experience, and therefore the collective achievements of the day.

Next up we’re hitting Westminster North to help Karen Buck in her central London fight against well-connected Tory Joanne Cash and her temperamental local Conservative Association. Hope you feel inspired to join us whether you’ve been out already or not.

Hello from Yorkshire!

We’re now in the home straight of the election campaign and things are getting interesting. Here Yorkshire based Young Fabian Mike Harrison finds that people still sometimes forget all the things Labour has achieved in Government.

Campaigning is going pretty well in God’s Own County. In Brigg and Goole, Labour’s candidate and MP since 1997, Ian Cawsey (of MP4 fame), is proving a valuable asset to the Party’s campaign to hold the seat. He is extremely popular in the traditional Labour areas and even Conservative supporters, and, on the QT, even Conservative members, are saying they will be voting for him.

Whilst out in Goole North Ward on Saturday with a group of young Labour members sporting ‘Vote Cawsey…Cawsey’s Worth It!’ t-shirts, the response was either positive or undecided. It was a scorching day and the mood was upbeat, people wanted to engage and freely recognised that the new £19million Goole High School, the new £3million health centre, and the 2 £1.5million Surestart Children’s Centres were down to Labour’s investment in communities.

Those who were undecided found us willing to listen to their issues and in many cases were glad we had come round to talk to them about their concerns.

An illustrative  little story from Saturday’s campaign:

An elderly lady challenged us about our t-shirts ‘Do you think its right that we are paying for those t-shirts when the country is bankrupt?’ Our response was gentile – we explained that we have paid for our own t-shirts. I went on to talk about the winter fuel allowance, the free bus pass, free TV-licence and the pension rate being linked back to earnings – to which she replied ‘what’s that got to do with Labour?’ She genuinely thought these weren’t born from Labour’s policies, which backs up my long held belief that we haven’t been good at shouting about what our policies have meant in reality.

I’m also campaigning in Keighley, a Labour held seat with just over 5,500 majority. We have a great candidate in Jane Thomas – a wonderful example of where the Labour Party is and should be. She has been campaigning hard in Keighley for over a year which is paying off as name recognition is noticeable. On the doorstep Labour’s support is holding up even in her opponents neighbourhood.

Overall, people do have genuine concerns and questions they want answers to. They’re also, and quite surprisingly, more willing to engage in debate and discussion. More than at the last election and a lot more than I would have expected given the parliamentary crisis over the last year. Although I am of a particular political persuasion I think this election offers a far more healthier opportunity of democratic participation then previous elections.

There is a lot more work to do between now an polling day and so far I’m nervously enjoying it!

This post was also published on Labourlist

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