General Secretary candidate Iain McNicol answers your questions

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

Regular readers will remember that last week we asked you to submit your questions for Labour’s next General Secretary, ahead of tomorrow’s final decision by the party NEC. On Saturday we posted the pick of your questions, and asked the two candidates to respond. We’ve now had a response from Iain McNicol, but we’re yet to hear back from Chris Lennie (although we’re happy to post Chris’s responses if we hear back from him by this evening – and he can email us here). Below are the questions we asked, and Iain’s answers:

What steps will you take to ensure that the members are at the heart of the party and receive all the training and support possible to win locally?

Rebuilding the voluntary party is crucial not simply because an active grassroots speaks to our, dare I say it, big society values, but because it is often the difference between winning and losing. When I was Labour’s local organiser in West London in 1997, we had over 800 volunteers on election day – we have to rebuild our base so that we have the same strength of support on the ground at the next election.

Training and staff support for people who work for us locally is crucial. Learning from progressive left organisations like the National Organising Institute in the US, and from our own best practises from across the labour movement and the unions, I will prioritise training for activists, focusing on the nuts and bolts, and on encouraging supporters to bring in new supporters so that we constantly grow.

Let’s not kid ourselves though – this is going to cost money. We can’t do everything from the centre, and I will be clear with supporters across the country, if you want new support and to build a vibrant party, you will have a job of work to do too. We must have trained members and organisers at a very local level to ensure we win elections at all levels, across the country.

I believe it’s time to turn the page on the command and control systems of the past and embrace a dramatic decentralisation of party power, decision making and resourcing to empower staff, members and candidates around the UK.

What are your three priorities for ensuring the Labour Party is streamlined, able to attract talent and expertise and thereby able to become a more effective 21st century campaigning machine?

Our biggest resource is our people – the staff who work miracles, our constituency officers and activists, and our local councillors. Thanks to our members we can find new and innovative tactics to do better as a party. So here’s three of my top ideas:

1) Train and empower our members. We must actively find mentors, develop courses, provide resources, and even use qualifications and certificates to build a “University for Labour” – delivered largely online but with local and regional tutorials across the country. We need smarter consultation on policy with transparency as our watchword. Simply put, everything I do will be about helping, supporting and empowering the people who will deliver victory at the next election.

2) Tackle our funding challenge by connecting small donors with big donors and using all the tools of technology and the relationships of our membership to attract new donors. (I go into more detail on what I’ll do on fundraising in the next question.)

3) Build a Rolls Royce campaigning machine, by unleashing the talent of our members, the dedication of our staff and the leadership of our candidates with my proposal for an ‘Access All Areas’ strategy to take the battle to the Tories in Southern and Eastern seats, drawing on the brilliant work of efforts like Southern Front and Third Place First.

We have a crisis in our finances. What will you do to firstly put the party back on a secure footing and secondly to ensure a sustainable fundraising strategy that doesn’t leave us vulnerable to the whims of a few high donors?

The financial support of all our backers is important, so let’s not be dismissive of our larger donors – they are vitally important to us and the fact that they have been so successful and want to help the party is something to celebrate.

We also need to build a wider pool of small donors. Online and offline, there are more people out there ready to make the investment in the chance of a fairer country. Innovation is key to developing that donor pool – especially using new internet tactics while expanding our current plans.

But I’d also say, we have to give something back. I think that investing in our communications with supporters, especially online will be an initial spend but will reap a reward down the road. We want to make being an active member and a small donor an enjoyable experience rather than seeing these things as the ‘duty’ of a member.

Should Victoria Street staff be the neutral civil service of the party, or should they be able to promote particular ideas, policies or individuals? How will your actions reflect your view on this?

Our staff in Victoria Street, in Newcastle and across our regions and nations offices do a stellar job, under tough, tough circumstances. You only to take a look at our record in key seats in 2010 and in byelections over the last few years to see that. I’ve been a Labour staffer too and I know the tough environment they work in.

The party does have settled views on policies and who leads us – I will be relentless in working day and night for victory at the next election and for our leader, Ed Miliband. I wont get distracted by factional fights and attempts to push delegates at conference one way or the other, or putting a favoured candidate in place in a selection. My focus will 100% on winning the next election and I expect everyone else will have that focus too.

Will you reform Young Labour – giving us autonomy afforded to BAME, Women’s and LGBT campaigns?

Yes.