Two Putney council by-elections in two years.  The first, last year  in Thamesfield ward (Putney town centre and riverside), gave Labour a 13.5% swing in the safest Conservative ward in the borough – a swing unrepeated anywhere in the country since (or for some time previously).  The second, last week’s Southfields and Wandsworth town by-election – a ward securely Tory [...]

In so many of our rural areas our Party has collapsed. It ceases to be relevant, is inward looking, inactive and isolated from the wider community. Often, the local party will not even meet or knock on doors. In such circumstances it is hardly surprising that ‘Labour can’t win here’ is the Lib Dems’ message. So, it is unsurprising that [...]

The Labour Values team has put together a comprehensive submission to Peter Hain’s Refounding Labour consultation. You can download the whole document as a PDF here.

As a Parliamentary Candidate standing for Labour at the last General Election, it became clear that many of our supporters felt that the previous Labour Government weren’t listening to us any more but also seemed  to be on the wrong side of the political fence. One such group was the Gurkhas who had served in the British Army prior to [...]

I am very lucky.  I represent in Westminster the place where I was born and grew up. My parents and grandparents are my constituents.  When I stood for election, my school mate, Jenny, who sat next to me in A level Politics many years ago, was my agent.  On the campaign trail, there was barely a street that did not [...]

Labour in Hackney has increased its number of councillors from 29 out of 60 and a hung council in 1998, to 50 out of 57 in May 2010. This 12-year trend started with a series of remarkable by-election wins on swings of nearly 20%, and was then reinforced in three consecutive borough elections.

Rebuilding Labour’s reputation in Bermondsey In 2002, Labour didn’t win a single seat in Bermondsey & Old Southwark and lost control of the council. In 2010, we reclaimed six seats and delivered a Labour majority. We have shown how a bottom-up campaign, led by local members working in the community can rebuild Labour’s reputation with the electorate. Change wasn’t easy. [...]

Labour values is beginning to fill up with informative campaign case studies from Labour Party branches around the country, and the first nine appear to have lessons for all of us.

Labour in Lewisham East was faced with a peculiarly well-funded Liberal Democrat campaign. Ultimately their challenge was seen off, and a healthy 6216 majority secured, by two factors. Campaigning for a general election began two years earlier – obviously not at the same intensity as in 2010, but all branches within the CLP campaigned with renewed vigour from 2008 onwards. [...]

During the election campaign, each and every poll showed Labour losing Aberdeen South, and yet, on the night, Labour’s majority increased from 1348 to 3506, with a 36.53% share of the vote, on an increased turn out of 67.2%. When asked how she accounts for her re-election, the answer Anne Begg, the MP for Aberdeen South, gives is, “13 years [...]