A must read blueprint for local success

The Fabian Society have always been seen as a highly centralised organisation. Those who know their Labour history will know that they have long been seen as the instigators and defenders of big state socialism.

But politics is largely a local game. Fought and won street by street, voter by voter. How then does a national (and proud) organisation help Labour win in towns and cities across the land?

In their most recent pamphlet Labour’s Next Majority: A Constituency Guide,  Fabian Deputy General Secretary Marcus Roberts exemplifies an approach to Labour strategy that show the best of what national organisations can do when they move from (as Marcus puts it) a model of “command and control” so essential to the running of New Labour to one of  “respect, empower and include”.

This pamphlet sets out a very clear shape for local campaigns. It is not the Labour Party insisting on this as a “One size fits all” model. It is a Labour affiliate offering a useful and – most vitally – tried and tested method of running and organising a campaign. The key decisions in that campaign will only work when taken and enacted locally. In the manner of our best policy making and in the exciting spirit of devolution that we hear from Ed Miliband and Jon Cruddas at the top of the party, this system offers empowerment to the constituency not orders from the centre.

Sometimes – as regular readers will know – I feel let down by our air war. But then I’ve been moaning about messaging strategy since the attrocious slogan “forward, not back” in 2005 and we still won that election (while shedding seats). Our national messaging needs work certainly. But this pamphlet demonstrates the importance of local messaging. I don’t want to say that such messaging negates our national campaign. It would be foolhardy indeed to claim, assume or even believe that to be a positive. But the pamphlet demonstrates than in key seats that were early adoptors of this kind of campaigning (Birmingham Edgebaston, Tooting and Oxford East for example) it was possible to buck the national trend and to win in seats that we would otherwise have been expected to lose.

I almost never feel let down by fellow Labour volunteers. But sometimes our lack of imagination lets them down. As Marcus puts it in the pamphlet:

“Thousands of volunteers are already giving their time and talents to Labour; the very least we can do is ensure their time is used to the best effect. “

We should continue as we do to celebrate our volunteers. They are our biggest and best weapon in a fight in which we know we will be outspent by an enormous margin. I never again want to hear Labour people moaning about the Twitter #Labourdoorstep hashtag. As the pamphlet makes clear by quoting the editor of www.mybarackobama.com, the happiness and excitement of these volunteers sharing their stories of the doorstep is infectious. Volunteers bring volunteers, just as members get members.

In writing a blue print that offers specific advice on rudimentals like how to set the win number and what to expect from different forms of fundraising, the Fabians could be accused of reverting to centrist type. But in fact, just as the advice is well written and should be invaluable (as well as the excellent Membersnet and training resources the Party provide which the pamphlet helpfully points to), it is also very clear that the decisions on how this data is used can only be made locally. This pamphlet strikes the perfect balance between nationally applicable strategy and local empowerment and decision making that reflects – like the work of community organising guru Arnie Graf – the best of what the Labour Party under Ed Miliband is becoming.

I have been privileged to meet fantastic organisers and candidates working their socks off to gain a Labour victory and never losing sight of why that’s necessary to transform lives and places. Hopefully – wherever they are in their journey – just appointed or long-standing – they can gain something from this excellent and practical pamphlet.