How does community organising work in a “key seat”?

By Mike Buckley and Jack Madden

Labour is rightly looking for ways to reach beyond its traditional heartlands. In Westminster this is all about setting policy and driving a media agenda. On the ground in target seats there’s a complementary job to be done by local members and activists, building support and creating a name for Labour as the party of change.

Movement for Change wants to build that support and name for Labour wherever we work. One of the strengths of community organising is that it can work anywhere there’s a community, even in rural areas such as North East Somerset. The Movement for Change model is to work in partnership with the local Labour Party – in this case North East Somerset CLP – and local activists, to create real change in the community using the principles and techniques of community organising. Taking on a project in Somerset began as something of a challenge as we were more used to working in urban settings with more established groups of activists and civil society, but so far the results have been fantastic.

We began by going out with local Labour members and talking to people about what really mattered to them. We found that the most talked about need of people was for a better bus service. This isn’t going to set hearts racing in Westminster, but it matters deeply to the people we met. The poor service doesn’t just mean waiting around for a while before a bus turns up; it means young children facing a long walk to school, elderly people effectively marooned in their homes, working age people who either can’t get to work by public transport or, if they can, many face a long wait at either end, and local businesses struggling to attract customers and staff.

These stories explain why bus services matter. They also have a real impact on those in power and are a useful tool in our campaigns – as Lib Dem Councillor Roger Symonds said after our negotiation with him ‘very often we don’t know what these problems are so getting people together like this is very beneficial.’ There is a needed democratic response to this – better local government – but there’s also needed practical response – more buses.

This isn’t the place to talk about transport policy, although the stories we heard from community members, and the convoluted stories we heard from bus operators and the council as to why services couldn’t be changed, could lead to a good few policy suggestions. The point for this community is that something was done – we held a negotiation with the council and they’ve agreed to work with local people to, within the limits of what’s possible, design a better system. Later bus services, changed bus times, and accurate timetables aren’t big asks – but they’ll be life changing for locals and beneficial for businesses. This is what politics looks like in Somerset – local people working with councillors and transport officers to design a better system, one that works.

What’s exciting for the local party, and a great example for organising in a key seat, is that through community organising we were able to draw over 40 people into our campaign, set up a negotiation, and gain a commitment to win change by working with Labour members, supporters, and the wider community. We’re having a real impact on people’s lives in an area where we don’t have an MP or council control. We’re showing people that politics matters, and that Labour is the party of change. Labour and Movement for Change, working in partnership with the community, can make that claim in Somerset right now, even before the next elections.

Mike Buckley and Jack Madden are community organisers with Movement for Change