Momentum: Labour needs to innovate and experiment to build on June and win

When Momentum was formed two years ago promising to revitalise Labour’s campaigning culture, the idea was scoffed at. After our efforts during the election campaign earlier this year, mobilising members and supporters to knock on a million doors on voting day and reaching a quarter of the electorate on social media, all with limited resources and a handful of staff, our contribution has been recognised even by critics.

Plenty of people – including those Conservatives trying to replicate our work – think that it was simply a matter of slick social media convincing the converted to get out on doors or to the ballot box. Of course our digital strategy – both in terms of viral videos and our use of campaigning technology – was essential, and of course grassroots enthusiasm is the main resource we draw on. But key to turning those things into a living, breathing, mobilised group is a strategy for organising people.

Even if your only aim is the largest standing army of doorknockers possible, this is not done simply by rounding people up three weeks before an election. Movement building is a holistic process, and includes putting down roots and organising in communities all year round, developing and training members and allowing them to find their niche, building an inclusive social environment and creating spaces to discuss ideas. Above all, it’s about recognising that activists can and should be allowed to mould and shape the party’s political culture, as part of a mass membership that more than ever before now represents people from every background and walk of life in every corner of Britain.

The people who have driven Momentum, both locally and nationally, come from a huge range of backgrounds politically as well. For some, the first Corbyn leadership campaign was their political awakening and they had been previously uninvolved. Some have come through large, plural social movements, engaged by the struggle against the Iraq War, or tuition fees, or the housing crisis. Some are trade unionists organised via the workplace, some joined the Labour Party at school or university, some are from charitable campaigning backgrounds and some from liberation movements. All of these experiences have brought strategic lessons to the table, preserving the experience and learning of successful (as well as unsuccessful) campaigns. We have become stronger by listening to all those experiences.

At every level, we work to empower activists. Digital tools like My Nearest Marginal, or regular social media content, or campaign texts, allow people a steady flow of information that they can use to plan out any time they are dedicating to politics, or to campaign from home. Physical training sessions, from our persuasive canvassing training delivered by Bernie Sanders’ organisers to our digital and creative hackathons, allow people to share and develop useful skills. All of this has already unlocked potential and made us a vibrant, evolving organisation.

Momentum’s work takes place in partnership with Labour’s campaigning – not in competition with it. The phonebanking app developed for Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign has now been developed for use by the party. The ways in which Momentum has mobilised people in key seats, whether through carpools or online drives, are being discussed in CLPs and often implemented at the local level. We have been able to act as a testbed for experimental campaigning techniques, refine the best, and add them to Labour’s pool of understanding.

The philosophy behind our formation two years ago was that the energy and creativity of Jeremy Corbyn’s first campaign should be preserved and directed into new avenues to make the Labour Party stronger. We have begun to build a mass politics that utilises the full potential of Labour’s mass membership, and whether it’s at the election or at our World Transformed fringe festival during Labour conference, we are starting to see the successes of that approach. The more Labour continues to innovate and experiment, opening itself up to the ideas and experiences of the its thousands of members and supporters, the more it will be ready to take power when this divided Tory government finally falls.

Elizabeth Hayden is a member of Momentum’s National Coordinating Group