In this short video new Darwen Town Councillor Dave Smith talks about his election campaign, the result and his priorities for the area.
Posted by: Blackburn Labour in video, campaigning on
Jun 5, 2009
It's not an easy time to be a party activist. Using election day submissions from activists across the UK, we've been working with LabourList to produce this video on why we still believe in Labour:
Thanks so much to everyone that helped, whether they made a video, lent their camera out, put us in contact with someone, or merely put up with our incessant nagging!
It's a testament to the agility of Labour bloggers, activists and video campaigners that we can turn this around in less than 24 hours!
UPDATE: Rt. Hon Jim Murphy MP has done his bit. Jack Straw doing one later on!
It's not an easy time to be a political activist out on the doorsteps canvassing, leafleting and talking to voters. But when the going gets tough it's good to remember what motivates us to fight for what we believe in.
We're putting together a video featuring Labour activists, candidates and MPs. Here's how you can help
- Send your short "I still believe in..." message to believevideo@googlemail.com
- If you see an MP or other politician out on the campaign trail, grab them and do a quick video
- Give this a plug on your blog if you have one
You can easily record them with a camera phone (okay) or a digital camera (better). Check out the video below:
A couple of us hopped on the train to the big smoke yesterday to take part in phone canvassing organised by LGBT Labour North West. A shedload of voters across the region were contacted in aid of our Labour North West European team. Plus we got a free glass of Fanta.
A great job by Kevin Peel and the other organisers!
There's another one today. If you can help out please call 07772 608 058.
Posted by: Blackburn Labour in tories, campaigning on
May 28, 2009
As any political geek will tell you, voter ID is the process of determining which electors in a particular area favour which parties.
This is useful for activists to 'get out the vote' - or more accurately their party's vote - during elections and indicate where precious campaigning resources should be directed.
The Tories have been spending thousands on direct mail like the above in Blackburn during the run up to the European elections. With the financial pressures on the big parties no one wants to waste any money needlessly.
Perhaps a good way to save a few pennies would be to stop sending Conservative election material to long-serving Labour councillors?
Arshid Mahmood of Corporation Park ward is among numerous Labour councillors that have assured us they aren't planning to defect on the basis of this leaflet.
Perhaps Blackburn Tories should update their voter ID!
Posted by: Blackburn Labour in campaigning on
Apr 29, 2009
Although the major lessons from the Obama campaign are cultural rather than technocratic, we always thought that the online phone banking idea was totally brilliant.
It's great to see that we didn't handicap the Labour version of this tool from the outset by giving it the most stupid name in the history of the internets: myBO anyone?
And we got wind of some even better news today. Ninety days from the launch of the The Labour online phone bank, 15,709 calls have been made by 1,083 users with 14.5 calls per user on average.
That's one helluvalot of voter ID and contacts in key marginal seats!
These figures are doing the rounds of the Labour bloggers and we understand that they've been leaked out to us before they're spun into some great e-victory press release for consumption by PR Week et al. This is a really positive indicator that Labour HQ are following through the technical innovations with the changes in approach that are necessary to get the most out of the blogosphere - in all its multi-polar and seemingly chaotic glory.
We're still on the moderately steep bit of the learning curve though. A good example is the G20 widget, which the editors of this site found out about from a Conservative blogger, rather than a more positive outlet. By building a relationship with the Labour blogosphere the new media team, led by the impressive Sue Macmillan, will be able to 'seed' things like this more effectively and make them go viral in the right way rather than picked apart by the right.
Google has blogs for most of its projects which it uses to disseminate information and engage in a productive dialogue with its user community. This is perhaps something the Labour tech people should consider.
Come on Sue, Get a blog!
A new Labour North West page had been created on Facebook to complement the existing regional website.
The facility is set up as a Facebook Page rather than a group and is the same system used by Barack Obama for his presidential campaign. Any updates sent from the group will appear in supporters' feeds on their homepage when they login.
Of course, there is already a regional Labour presence on Facebook with a number of other groups and pages supporters can join:
Administrator permissions have been given out to a number of active MPs, councillors and parliamentary candidates. With luck, this will build into a really vibrant regional focus for Labour minded people on Facebook.
Click here To become a supporter of Labour North West on Facebook
Or so ran the theme tune to Record Breakers.
Labour in Blackburn are proud that we're the only party that is active in all areas of our town. Unfortunately the Tories and Liberal Democrats don't see it that way - they don't stand against each other in local elections because they're in coalition on the council. They've nothing in common with each other and stick together for a love of power and the extra expenses that go with it.
We stand candidates in every ward, every year because we believe in giving people choice and speaking to the electorate, rather than restricting who people can vote for due to deals in back rooms of the town hall. Good local politics is about engaging with people everywhere you can and all year round - and not just at election time.
This short (and very funny) video from Luke Pollard, a Labour candidate some 300 miles away in South West Devon, is a real inspiration for those who believe there shouldn't be "no go areas" when out campaigning!
