Using the Labour Party doorstep app to stay safe & speak to voters (about squirrels in attics?)

 

On Saturday morning we had a training event for Newham Labour Councillors on campaigning in general and also on the Party doorstep app. Instead of printing out sheets of names and addresses of residents for canvassing teams to knock on doors and speak to voters, this information is down loaded onto a mobile smart phone. The results of these conversations can then also be uploaded automatically (a great advantage since quite often such data collected on sheets is not inputted). 

During the recent East Ham Central by election we used doorstep and while it is not perfect it was much better than the traditional method. While mobile phones batteries can die in the middle of a session so could pens run out of ink. 

There are a number of very informative videos on the Labour Party website at the Webinar Library "Using Campaign Technology Tools". 

After the training we had a "dialogue" telecanvassing session in our target wards. During which I spoke to one life long Labour supporter who is (quite rightly) refusing to support us locally until we sort out the squirrels who are  apparently running riot are in the communal attic above her. I will ask local ward councillors to intervene. 

May 6 aftermath: Sadiq, Unmesh & Farah win well; Newham Democracy Referendum narrowly loses; Wales keeps Red as does some regions (but crushing by election defeat)

Now I have had some time to recover from electioneering and reflect upon last Thursday 6 May - some thoughts:-

Congratulations on Sadiq being re-elected as London Mayor; Unmesh re-elected as our local City & East Assembly member and Farah winning the by election in East Ham Central with over 52% of vote. Newham turnout was 35% which is by any standards unacceptably poor. We did not get out the Labour vote in Newham that we should have had. 

The Newham democracy referendum on replacing the Executive Mayor with a Councillor run committee model was lost by 44% to 56%, which is a shame but the narrow majority shows the concern felt by many residents about such governance arrangements. I supported the "Newham for Change" campaign and hope it will continue to argue for greater democracy and transparency in government, both locally and nationally. Certainly we should support the opposition to the Tory led referendum in October to change Croydon Council into a Mayoral system.  

My UNISON colleague Lola came second in the Kent Police and Crime commissioner election, doubling the Labour vote from the previous election & having the highest single candidate vote Labour has ever had in Kent. 

I was so pleased that Wales kept "Red" and Labour had one of its best ever assembly votes despite the very high Welsh brexit vote. Unlike the dreadful by election outcome in Hartlepool. 

Welsh Labour shows that we can win back our traditional working class base with a left of centre pragmatic socialist programme (and working in partnership with trade unions). 

Labour did well in many areas but overall it was not good and we need to get much better, we need to unite around Keir and get our policies across better. 

I did suggest at a recent meeting of UNISON Greater London Regional Council officers, where we compared the strong support for Labour in our region and the principality, that perhaps London ought to consider leaving the UK and forming a political union with Wales? It was just a thought....

Vote Labour, Vote Labour, Vote Labour - 3 votes for Labour in London: Mayor, Assembly member & Party

 

Braving the rain yesterday evening with Plaistow South Canvass teams and our super active Labour City and East Candidate, Unmesh Desai.

(In the East Ham Central ward by election they have a fourth Labour vote for Farah Nazeer)

West Hammers help out in East Ham Central By Election

Yesterday evening I went out on the Labour doorstep with our West Ham MP, Lyn Brown and Cara (the infamous Labour attack dog) to support Farah Nazeer, our Labour candidate in East Ham Central by election on Thursday May 6 (and our London Mayoral Candidate, Sadiq Khan and local East London Assembly member, Unmesh Desai).

We joined local Councillors Susan Masters and Alan Griffiths (Agent). Despite a mixture of sunshine and showers the canvass went really well with pretty extraordinary high levels of Labour support. 

We also came across some beautiful urban gardens. 

Using the Labour Party mobile "doorstep" appears to work really well. No more soggy paper canvass sheets to try and fill out in the rain.