Two Putney By-Elections
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 [...]
Getting organised in rural seats like Yeovil
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 [...]
Submission to Refounding Labour
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.
Lessons from Aldershot
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 [...]
Golden tickets in Wirral South
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 [...]
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Added Jul 7, 2010, Under:
News
A double-whammy in The Guardian today from Harriet Harman and John Prescott: a surge in Labour membership, but we have to harness this new support: ‘Harriet Harman, the interim Labour leader, says a new breed of young political activist, committed to opposing the coalition government and the Liberal Democrats in particular, is joining Labour at a rate of 1,000 a [...]
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.
When I moved to the area, I thought it would be fun to get involved with my local Labour Party. I wrote to a number of councillors offering to help wherever I could, and mentioned that I had a background in fundraising and events management. After a few weeks, I still hadn’t heard back and decided to approach my local [...]
The somewhat surprising news from one constituency is that people are joining the party again, a contrast with the common view of the continuing decline in membership. One activist has recruited 10 new members (against a target of 50! By the by, how useful is that target? Has he failed or has he succeeded? Is he more or less motivated? [...]
Too much precious time is wasted at local Party meetings on inward-looking and anachronistic bureaucracy. Masquerading as internal democracy, it bears almost no relation to the communities outside who need our support. We need to get out there, get relevant, and get real.
Since I joined the Labour party, the only thing I’ve been asked to do during campaigns is deliver leaflets. It feels like a big waste of time and it must put a lot of people off getting involved. If we want to attract new members we need to get them involved in inspiring campaigns, not use them as unpaid postmen.
This is a new section of the Labour Values website. Please send us your stories.
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. [...]
“We must seize the chance of this leadership election to renew the Labour Party from the ground up and re-engage with the communities we are elected to serve” writes Ed Balls for Labour values.
