While a 1.1% swing to Labour and an increase in the majority from 8,009 to 9,856 might not rank as the most dramatic success in the recent General Election, it’s a good result and illustrates that we must be doing something right in Blackburn.

Of course, a result like this wasn’t achieved overnight and, on reflection, there are three pieces of activity that I’d suggest could be candidates for inclusion in Labour’s ” best practice” manual. They all have the advantage of being simple both in concept and organisational demands and they bring the party nearer to the electorate in a non-traditional way.

The first idea is the concept of non-political residents’ meetings. We first began such meetings, which have local communities (no more than 1,600 households) as their basis, in 2003 and here’s the idea – Jack Straw; the political Leader of the Council (who incidentally is currently a Tory); the Chief Executive of the local Council; the local Chief Constable and maybe a representative from a housing agency meet in a community centre/school to answer questions from residents about the area and the performance of the various local agencies. Jack chairs the meeting which lasts a maximum of two hours and residents are invited by a standard letter from Jack on House of Commons paper explaining the purpose of the meeting – the invitations are delivered by hand by Labour Party volunteers. The meetings are invariably well attended, often quite lively and it’s vital that residents understand that there is an opportunity for genuine debate and disagreement. We’ve organised around 60 such meetings since 2003 including a number of repeat visits. But, provided the agencies are seen to be taking the meeting seriously and accepting a degree of accountability, including a track on follow-up actions, there is a clear public appetite for this type of forum.

The second activity could not be more simple. Described as a “Shoutabout” it essentially involves Jack standing on a soapbox (any box will do!) in Blackburn town centre and, after a brief speech, answering impromptu questions from the crowd. Unlike residents’ meetings, this event is fiercely political – the questions can be harsh and the forum is challenging but it has the advantage of needing virtually no organisation and offers an opportunity to attend a political meeting to people who would not attend such events. They can choose to stay for a few minutes or for longer but that’s up to them. We’ve been holding such events on a Saturday morning about once a month since 1983 (yep!) and they have become part of the fabric of the town. The town’s citizens respect Jack for putting himself in the firing line but, particularly during an election campaign, they also become a rallying point for Labour supporters who come along to show support.

Finally, our weekly campaign meetings which really help us to co-ordinate the short campaign. We meet in a community centre to review what’s been achieved in the previous week and what needs to be done next. This is a business meeting – the purpose is to get a clear and truthful indication from each ward as to what they’ve done and what they’ve not done and why. The meeting is open to all members but we insist that there is a representative from each ward and they must have the details of how much leafletting/canvassing has been completed in their ward and how much still needs to be done and, crucially, is there a problem in hitting the target. The ethos is about taking individual responsibilities for the collective good – we’ve been doing these for a number of years and, as members understand and accept this ethos and grow comfortable in each other’s company, they develop a sense of unity and camaraderie that drives our campaigns forward and allows our members to recognise the beliefs that bind us together.

Picture Credit: Mark Davies

by Phil Riley, Candidate’s agent and Blackburn CLP Secretary