At a speech to the Demos think tank on Thursday, shadow Chief Secretary Liam Byrne MP set out his views on Labour’s need to “put once again community politics at the centre of our world”. He said: Labour has to put once again community politics at the centre of our world. In Birmingham, we did well fending off a Tory attack. [...]

In the Guardian yesterday, Ed Miliband spoke about the importance of making the Labour party the “best community organising force in this country”: “This is Labour’s opportunity to inspire a new generation of young people. We are not the establishment any more. I want the Labour party to be the best community organising force in this country. I think the [...]

A simple email list in Broxstowe was the key to keeping the loss to a minimum. There are now over 4,000 homes individually signed up. This generated 400 non-party volunteer deliverers at the General election, plus £5,000 in donations, plus endorsements from across the spectrum, including two public non-party campaigns (“Conservatives for Palmer” and “Independents for Palmer”) complementing the main Labour campaign.

One way to turn Labour Values into practice would be for the Party to do more to involve the unions in our hands-on campaigning. Currently, unions give the Party financial support, and that, of course, is a big help. And some union members do come out on the doorstep. But many don’t, and often because they don’t know how to, [...]

On Newsnight on Wednesday, David Miliband contrasted the old “command and control” model of leadership with his view that Labour leaders are now “proud of our activists, not fearful of them”. He name checked Birmingham Edgbaston where he said: “We did have a party that had become a movement in our community and I think that is the key to [...]

Will Straw – one of the founders for Labour values – has written about Labour values on the New Statesman’s Staggers blog. Will writes: As David Miliband put it in on Monday, Labour “lost, and lost badly”. But although election night was bleak for Labour activists there were moments of cheer as results came in from a series of surprising [...]

The challenges at the start of this century – global recession, climate change, distrust in politics – demand a progressive response. But we will only ensure that the future is shaped by our values if our primary vehicle for change – the Labour Party – itself responds and changes. Read Andy’s full article on LabourList

Dagenham and Rainham posed a unique challenge in British politics. Jon Cruddas MP was up against a consolidated BNP vote in three wards, a strong Tory challenger backed by Lord Ashcroft cash, and boundary changes meaning almost all the electorate were new. A ‘tight-loose’ style of campaigning won the day.

Writing in today’s Independent about Labour’s election defeat and his own possible leadership bid, Ed Balls praises a number of “great results, especially in local government”. He writes: “We need to learn from our successes this year in local government, and in constituencies which stood firm against the Tory tide, like Edgbaston, Oxford East and Gedling, where councillors and MPs [...]

Labour weren’t supposed to win in Islington South and Finsbury. But, through a combination of hard work, a carefully co-ordinated campaign, and lots of door knocking, Labour achieved a vastly increased majority.