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 in many rural areas Labour lacks a single Town or District Councillor.

This was the case in Yeovil where in the 2010 general election I ran as the Labour Parliamentary Candidate. It was an uphill struggle with few activists, poor local organisation and little support from the party. I was left to my own devices to get things moving; as best we could we got members involved and in the year preceding the election we established a small but dedicated campaign group with constant doorstep activity.

It is perhaps hard to convey to people in active urban CLPs how refreshing it was, in a rural constituency, to form a campaign team and to take them out canvassing. In an area where Labour has not knocked on doors since 1997 simply to get campaigning again felt like a huge achievement. I think people on the doorstep were just as surprised to encounter a Labour candidate. I distinctly remember being asked by the owner of a convenience store “why are you bothering?” followed by the all too common assertion “you’re never going to win here”, as if reciting the most nauseating claims of Lib Dem election literature.

But while frustrating, with the prospect of inevitable defeat, I believe we made a real difference. We worked hard and, in doing so, did demonstrate that even a small group of Labour activists can be a force for change in areas without Labour representation. With few means at our disposal we focussed our efforts on Yeovil’s East ward – my plan was to help the local party build campaign infrastructure, develop campaign skills and to lay the basis for success in future elections. The ward we selected had many issues
such as poverty and out of control anti-social behaviour. In talking to people on the doorstep we identified a sense of frustration and could see a community which needed something to change.

At the heart of the ward was a community park which had become a haven for trouble. This wasn’t helped by the park having virtually no lighting which meant people were too afraid to venture through it. It had already been the site of numerous assaults
and with no lighting the darkness seemed to compound the problem with criminal behaviour taking place in anonymity. I believed that if we could do one simple thing – rejuvenate the park, starting with the lighting – we could restore some faith in the power of politics to bring about change. We used the staples of community organising – first striking up a conversation on the doorstep to
identify a problem, then setting out to solve it. I created a petition and with a small group of activists in tow we knocked on doors. I visited community groups, often just popping in, and spoke frankly about what I wanted to achieve. Within days we had collected hundreds of signatures.

In being active in the community I had built some strong relationships with a few journalists at local newspapers – they were probably more amused than anything at the idea of a third place Labour candidate who didn’t know when to quit – but we got them to print our story on the front page of the newspaper which helped to build a sense of momentum. This was the story of a community neglected fighting to improve itself and sort out its own problems.

With so much attention being given to our small issue and with so much pressure on the council I used the opportunity to meet with council officials, presenting our petition, and speaking with them about the viability of getting something done. That we had caught their eye and won over local people, speaking for the community, was more important than the fact that we were not Labour Councillors – they visited the site, agreeing with our assessment of the problem. We kept up the pressure with a letter-writing campaign in the local papers which refused to let the issue go quiet. I knew that when people started approaching me, without provocation, asking about the park and where we were with our campaign that we had something special.

We had no formal power, no councillors, but we had successfully backed the Lib Dem councillors into a corner over the issue, only
made possible through engaging the community and getting people on side. The key part in our campaign, and the ultimate reason for its success, was because we spoke to people, kept in touch and built momentum. As a result we initially secured a £104,000 commitment to upgrade the park lighting; there now stands a brand new park with new play facilities and new lighting. Sure, we did not force councillors to give the money – we couldn’t – but we won people over and made it impossible for them to do nothing. This was a success of community organising and ultimately the power of communities when working together to bring about change.

As futile as things can seem in the South West, I believe this shows that Labour is still relevant. But we need a different kind of
approach if Labour is to re-build its base of support here; community organising can play a central role in establishing outward looking CLPs rooted firmly in their communities through bottom-up campaigning. We must take the initiative and involve the public -too often in the past we have talked at people and not with them. Our regional offices need to recognise that we are more
than an electoral machine but also a movement for change. It isn’t all about elections – they are a means to an end but not the end itself. And I am sure that if Labour were organising in this fashion in places like Yeovil it would be a big step towards reviving our electoral fortunes.

Lee Skevington was the Labour Party’s Parliamentary Candidate for Yeovil in the 2010 General Election