A month on, #mobmonday shows the power of Labour’s grassroots activists

By Grace Fletcher-Hackwood and Kevin Peel

The Tories may have a seemingly unlimited supply of money, which they are pouring into key marginal seats across the country to produce glossy leaflets and expensive advertising, but we have something much more effective – a network of grassroots activists talking to local people about their issues and showing that Labour is on their side. We can connect with the voters in a way that airbrushed posters never will.

You can’t beat knocking on someone’s door and chatting to them face to face. But what if you live in the middle of nowhere, or in an ultra-safe Labour seat, and want to help a candidate in desperate need hundreds of miles away? Well, thanks to #mobmonday, now you can!

Using Labour’s excellent Virtual Phone Bank and mobilising hordes of activists via Twitter and Facebook, we launched #mobmonday in the middle of January. The idea is a simple one: log on every Monday evening between 6 and 8pm and make contacts for a key marginal seat.

A month on and the figures show it has been a huge success. Combined with efforts of local activists in each area, over 3,000 calls have been made in 5 of Labour’s crucial marginal seats by activists the length and breadth of the country. And that’s not all, a spike in use of the Virtual Phone Bank has been reported on Monday evenings, with many more activists using the opportunity to mobilise supporters to make contacts for their own constituencies.

We’ll be continuing with #mobmonday right up until the election and we hope it goes from strength to strength. Why not join us next Monday and make some calls for James Lewis, Labour’s PPC for Elmet & Rothwell?

Watch the #mobmonday video here, and see how you can join in!