There’s no substitute for people talking to people in your neighbourhood

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

With the election defeat – and it is a defeat – discussions about the nature of our campaigning and activism should soon come to the fore.

In due course, LabourList will be focusing on specific examples of where community action has led to impressive victories for Labour MPs in this election, bucking national trends and expectations. There are a number of best practise examples around the country, which will require proper study and the concerted sharing of experiences and knowledge with the rest of the party.

In the meantime, David Plouffe is still one of the leaders in the field of translating community activism into electoral success. In this video, he talks about how and why he was able to build a movement in 2008, and how that can be translated into what Time magazine called the permanent campaign: