Manchester Young Labour activist Kieran Roberts shares his personal reflections on the journey he has taken from ‘angry young man’ to a focused activist and organiser in the making:

I joined the Labour Party four years ago and, like everyone else who does at that age, you join because you’re angry and you want to make a difference. And then I went to my first CLP meeting… and then I was even angrier.

In Manchester Young Labour we wanted to give our members a better experience of being in the Labour Party than we had had. Community Organising was an obvious example as they could do the kind of thing that inspired them to join in the first place. Young people get involved in politics because they want to change lives, not the minutes of the last meeting, and that’s why I believe Movement for Change is so important.

After asking Movement for Change for help, we had a training event with Young Labour members in Manchester. We learned the basics about Community Organising, we all left fired up and by popular support everyone wanted to take action on lowering travel costs for young people in the city. We researched and planned a lot and it slowly seemed like an insurmountable task for us to take on – probably because it was – so after some discussions with Movement for Change (who gently reminded me that it’s a good idea to start with an action that’s achievable) we started visiting Blackley, an area where Labour activists don’t regularly campaign (because it’s very safe in electoral terms) but which is known for having high crime rates and lower than average incomes.

We held a lot of focused conversations, heard a lot of problems and what came up time and time again was that the kids in Blackley had nothing to do. What made it worse was we heard that if you live on one side of the road, you’d get beaten up if you went to play on the other side.  As a result, the one playground that’s there already is out of bounds for many kids.

So now we’re taking action to negotiate for a play area and some goal posts in the middle of a currently empty green in the area. We’re building support in the community and, most importantly, we’ve built up relationships in the area to spread the word that we’re listening, taking action and now we’re working on specific solutions.

Blackley’s the kind of place with deeply rooted problems but this method of Organising works with ordinary people to find practical solutions to our problems, making Labour more relevant in the process.  If you’re not already having a go in your branch, CLP, Young Labour group or wherever, it’s time to get organised!

The election of Movement for Change activist (and now County Councillor for Clenchwarton and Lynn South) Alexandra Kemp moved Labour from 4^th to 1^st place in a traditionally Conservative area last month.  Here, Alexandra outlines how she used relational politics as the basis of her campaign:

On 28 September 2012, Labour came first from fourth place in the safe Tory seat of Clenchwarton and Lynn South in Norfolk at the County Council election.  It was a Labour landslide in a seat we had not held or even fully contested for 7 years.  We turned a 700 Tory majority into a 400 Labour majority. There was a 25% swing to Labour. How did we do it?

We won through using relational politics to build a groundswell of support based on action we’d taken before the election was even called.  We won by playing a leading part in a high profile community campaign throughout the county division. We won by building a social consensus in a division spanning as large a distance as some constituencies, across a hugely varying demographic.  People told us they were breaking the habit of a lifetime to vote Labour for the first time. Yet in pledging their support, they affirmed a belief in local democracy, and in a community united by a shared love of place and neighbourhood. To me, it felt like a David and Goliath struggle where community action won out.

Local issue, local voice

Labour’s unique offer to our community was to stand up and challenge the age-old practice of siting the most polluting industries within breathing distance of our poorest areas. We spent time listening within our community and then helping to make the case for  the green option of locally-based recycling. In doing so, we were on the side of local residents in resisting Tory plans to make King’s Lynn the Norfolk capital for waste.

Having been pro-active in learning about the local sentiment and framing our narrative, Labour was therefore the first to write to local residents alerting them to the proposed development and exposing the sham Tory consultation that had taken place.  We used this momentum to lodge planning objections; we recorded our own song of protest on a CD with other campaigners; and meanwhile Labour Councillors put pressure on the Tories to reverse their decision.  It was a relational campaign organised through 121 conversations with people of all ages and backgrounds; through meetings with community groups; and (in the final week) a hustings recorded live in a local community centre under the eagle eye of the regional press and media.  Our message throughout was a positive one based on action Labour had taken locally. We showed that Labour will act in the interest of the whole community. As a result, the electorate took the plunge and voted for a Labour woman who looks very different from the usual Tory man in a suit. I now know that in other parts of Norfolk, Tories actually told Labour members that they wanted “the girl in the West to win”.

To all those who made this possible, I want to say a huge thanks. We used relational politics to build momentum with local residents, but I also relied on a fantastic team around me to make that happen, from my agent (Lawrence Wikinson) to the local Labour Group Council Leader Councillor Charles Joyce.  There was Jessica Asato the PPC from Norwich North and Jo Rust from the Trades Council. There was Harry Clarke from the regional board, Peter Smith from South-West Norfolk and Terry Jermy from Thetford. There was George Nobbs the Labour County Leader, County Councillor Bert Bremner and Labour PCC Steve Morphew. Youth Officer Ashley Collop, former County Councillor Bill Davison and Jenny Davison, and Councillor Laurence Scott. And so many others.  Thank you to all of you.

The achievement of first place from fourth is a definitive answer to all those who accept that politics can only be a certain way; to those who would abandon rural or non-traditional areas as “hopeless”; to those who don’t see the relevance of community-based action to our work as Labour activists.

Jo McCarron, a leading activist in Bath CLP, describes the context of Movement for Change’s recent work in the city.

In 2007 I instigated and led a large-scale community campaign called Response2route. Our campaign, against a road development, aimed to protect hundreds of people’s living environments from unjustified Tory plans. A large number of those affected were people living in social housing and sheltered accommodation for the elderly. The council was bulldozing the plans through at the expense of the least affluent communities, and without any meaningful consultation. This showed a complete disregard for local opinion and highlighted the barrier which often falls between politicians and the public.

I decided to take action, so started knocking on doors and leafleting. Our campaign gathered support from thousands of residents and through sheer numbers, we put immense pressure on the council and against the odds, we won our campaign. This played a large part in ousting the Tory administration from the council in Bath – but more importantly, it made our community strong and united. This has had a lasting effect. Many people have become friends and we now know we have a database of reliable people who we can mobilise should our community need to gear into action in the future.

Because of this previous experience, I am pleased our local CLP is working with Movement for Change. I identify with the objectives of this movement and understand how valuable non-party political engagement in communities can be. Party politics often gets in the way of the real issues.

Kathryn Perera has worked hard with our local Labour Party and already we are starting to see positive changes happening as a result of her advice and workshops. Bath CLP is now tapping into various local residents’ groups and other non-party political organisations to improve community involvement.

To strengthen ties within our own CLP, we have had informal get togethers in order to get to know each other better. This is helping us to identify people’s individual strengths and has increased activity within our local party.

Kathryn also ran a workshop which the CLP found very useful. The workshop aimed to show how united communities could work together effectively in order to win campaigns. The focus was on giving all members of the community (kids included) a voice – and arming local people with the right skills to make positive changes by themselves.

Bath CLP is continuing to use methods advised by Movement for Change. We plan some neighbourhood walks in order to identify local issues. We are also meeting with Fawcett Society’s Bristol Branch to discuss cuts and other local policies which will impact specifically on women in our communities.

The Labour Party are naturally community minded and I believe it is time to get back to our roots and tap into our communities. Then our party can make great headway regaining the trust of the electorate and get to the crux of what really matters to people.

Ann Fisher of Walthamstow Labour Party

Ann Fisher, a longstanding member of Walthamstow Labour Party, describes how Movement for Change has given her (and a larger group of previously inactive members) a way to engage both with the Party and their local community.

I am a recently retired London primary school teacher and have long been a Labour Party member. I have never been confident enough to attend Labour Party meetings nor to talking to people on doorsteps during elections. However I am keen to play my part as a Labour Party member. So when our Movement for Change (M4C) organiser Kathryn Perera asked me to join a small group of similar members locally, I was very happy to attend.

Through meeting with each of us individually (1-2-1), Kathryn had identified us as all being interested in education. Since the initial meeting six of us plus Kathryn have met several times at my husband John’s and my house.

We began to hold 1-2-1 meetings with other members of the group in order to learn more about each other and find out where we have shared interests and concerns.  Through that process, we discovered that education would not necessarily be the subject of our action. Through further discussions, it was suggested that our group should attend a Job Fair at the local college. We did this and combined talking to some local business people, listening to the issues of local residents and registering young people to vote as part of The Missing Millions voter registration campaign. Lots of people were happy to register to vote and we learned more about our local community in the process.

I felt, at last, I was doing something positive and linking with people I otherwise would not have met. It felt like we’d achieved a small step towards becoming more engaged in the political process. Everybody we approached responded eagerly and in a friendly manner. We hope to continue to work for The Missing Millions Campaign in the months ahead.

At first, our group was a little unsure as to where M4C was taking us as we were not asked to focus on activity straight away. But we stayed with it because we liked the idea of working within the local community, building up networks, so that people could identify and share their worries, which then might lead to joint action.  A lot of people, in my experience, seem to feel alienated from party politics, thinking it has nothing to do with them. My experience with M4C has proven my belief that working with the local community on local issues which they have identified, can lead them to take part in political action and achieve change.

Next we are planning a listening campaign along our street, initially, to ask residents how they think our street can be improved e.g. less litter, more trees, less congestion, improved lighting and find out any other issues they have and want to act on with us.  It is a gradual process, but one to which I am committed. There have also been other off-shoot actions from our group. For example, one of our initial members was a young man who had two degrees, but was unemployed. He felt there was a big issue around businesses not providing work experience to the unemployed. He is now working with Kathryn to link local businesses with local young people seeking work experience.

Before Movement for Change, I felt I couldn’t participate in the traditional role of a Labour Party member joining in meetings and electioneering. Being able to meet local people in 1-2-1s and small groups, in order to build towards community actions, has given me the opportunity to develop from an inactive party member to an active one.

Ann Fisher

Tom Chivers (@wronglets) of Bath Labour Party discusses the effect of a Movement for Change introductory training session on their nascent plans for community campaigning:

Although I’m a relatively new member of the Labour Party, I joined just in time to be able to help out with campaigning during the local elections in May last year. Hopes were high that with the increasing negativity towards the Government (and in particular the Liberal Democrats who are extremely popular in Bath), this election could be fought on level ground for the first time in decades.

This of course was not the case; the Liberal Democrats increased their number of seats in the council and our all-out mobilisation of candidates and leaflet drops seemed wasted. In subsequent branch meetings our solemn admissions of defeat had one thing in common; whilst our campaigns were fought on a logistical par with the Lib Dems, we lacked the strong community relationships that are vital in creating a strong campaign force. Whatever their opinions were on national issues, voters still turned to the Liberal Democrat candidates as they were seen to be ‘true locals fighting for local issues’. No matter how strong our campaign efforts were, without a strong local presence we Labour campaigners were seen as a foreign force fronting a foreign cause.

Enter Movement4Change. I attended the training because, as a community organiser for one of our target council wards, I felt that although our team was eager to begin campaigning, we lacked a clear direction. We knew all about the local concerns but couldn’t identify how best to fight for them. As part of our plans to create a consistent grass-roots campaign team, the training offered by M4C was invaluable. Not only did the session help our team to better understand one another’s motivations, but it also reminded us of the real importance of community relationships; it’s not about finding policies to fight for, but about creating bonds with the groups which are vital to the community. Not a minute had passed after the end of the session that, armed with a clear strategy, we set about planning our next steps, designating our target groups and starting to build a presence within the local community.

Movement for Change has given our campaign team a much needed push in the right direction. With a straight-forward list of tasks to complete that will begin to shape our operations within the local community, we are energised and focused, ready to bring Labour principles to the heart of Bath.

Tom Chivers is a member of Bath CLP and a ‘community organiser’ for one of their target wards. Follow him on Twitter: @wronglets

I first came across Movement for Change (M4C) when I went along to a community clean-up organised by the team. Our local MP Stephen Twigg and Knotty Ash Councillor Hayley Todd had been working with M4C and mentioned the fantastic work they were doing in communities up and down the country. I along with some other CLP members decided to go along get involved and learn a little more about what M4C was all about.

On the day it was great to see party members taking pride in their community alongside local residents, business owners and elected members. It’s the type of practical politics that just simply works. A problem was identified, a team put together to sort it out and in the process links were made with people in the surrounding community.

The success of the day meant that as a CLP we were keen to receive further M4C training. We wanted to learn how to forge lasting relationships with those outside of our membership and make a real difference in our neighbourhoods along the way.

The training itself was taken by community organiser Ben Maloney and attracted a group of enthusiastic members including our CLP chair, City Councillors, Candidates, Young Labour activists and new members.  The exercises throughout the day were tremendously useful. We were encouraged to look back on campaigns we had been involved in and evaluate how successful they had been. Listening to each other’s experiences and strategising as a group meant we were able to get a clearer sense of what works in a campaign. Going through this reflective process was constructive. As a membership that loves to campaign it was valuable for us to pause, look back and realise the importance of campaigning week in week out and the undeniable impact it has on election results.

Liverpool West Derby CLP is one which has been transformed in the past few years. Since Stephen Twigg has become the MP the life of the CLP has been revived, interesting speakers at meetings, political discussion and regular social events are all part of the deal. This winning approach to CLP life means that we are always looking for ways to build on this success and find new ideas to engage our membership and make links with the wider community.

The M4C approach to building CLP power is fresh and interesting. Advice to organise 1-2-1 meetings with new members was something that interested us all. Taking time to discover why someone has joined our party, what motivates them and discussing ways they can get involved in CLP life can be hugely beneficial. Meeting with members in an informal setting and starting up a conversation means we have a greater chance of engaging our new members from the outset. Actions like this can take away the daunting task of walking into a CLP meeting where everyone knows each other. No-one wants to feel like the new kid at school, baffled by Labour Party jargon and the minutes of the last meeting. The face-to-face meetings advocated by M4C take away the fear factor and encourage members to become active on their own terms, they decide how they want to become involved and CLP members can then support them in this. Some may want to campaign, others may want to attend meetings and policy discussion; a few may want to get involved in the social aspect of Party life. It’s our job as members to make newcomers feel comfortable enough to choose what type of members they want to be and how they want to contribute.

Another aspect of the training took us away from our comfort zone and challenged us to think about how we engage with those outside of our membership. Members are hugely important and we always want to attract more but it’s important that we’re not engaging with members and no-one else. If we want to make change in our areas and win future elections we should be making a considered effort to engage with those who aren’t Party members but do fantastic work in our local communities.

During the session we were encouraged to think about people in the community who we should be in dialogue with, including faith leaders, community activists, tenants and residents associations and local organisations to name but a few. Mapping out who we should be talking to and recognition that it’s something that all members should be doing was hugely worthwhile. We didn’t only think about who we should be engaging with but how. Hearing about M4C’s emphasis on voter registration and how this can be incorporated into all campaigns definitely gave us food for thought! I’m sure we’ll all be signing up for further training in 2012!

Lana Orr, Liverpool West Derby CLP