Plan for Power

PLAN FOR

POWER

DAW N B U T L E R F O R D E P U TY L E A D E R

INTRODUCTION

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HOW WE WIN We will win the next election. But only if we use our most valuable resource: our members. We have the largest party in western Europe and we are not using it properly. Through investing in training and leadership development for our members we can create the most powerful social movement this country has ever seen.

This is how we Prepare for Power.

The real role of the party is to build membership and build skills, not to over-police members. Overburdening Regional Organisers with compliance tasks and seeing CLPs as procedural bodies has held us back. A gatekeeper mindset is the reason we have not yet become a mass movement. Rather than sympathy, we need to offer working-class people leadership opportunities and a platform for agency.

The crucial task of a Deputy Leader is to inspire and upskill members. I will develop pathways to train people and grow leaders to make a real difference in our communities so that we never again feel like we did on December 13th.

I won’t make promises I can’t keep.

Or promise policies that cannot be delivered. The CORE strategy, which I developed working as a trade unionist, is the political edge of a larger project to restructure the economy.

Campaigning is not an isolated part of this. Each part of my CORE plan to Campaign, Organise, Recruit and

Educate is linked. An organising strategy that gives members training and leadership opportunities will give people a real reason to join the party.

Educating members so that they have the skills to enhance campaigning will be an ongoing process.

The 2017 and 2019 manifestos are here to stay. As well as our transformational policies, such as the Green New Deal, we need to make small promises that are backed up with action on a local level.

We will not win by watering down our values or giving in to Tory narratives.

But we do need discipline to be rock solid within the Parliamentary Labour Party. If we were united we would have won the 2017 election.

I am the only leadership candidate who has been in government and this is my plan to win. I will unite our Party and unleash our membership. I will Prepare our whole movement for Power.

Let’s make history together.

CAMPAIGN

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CAMPAIGN We will train an inspirational campaigning force A digital party in a digital age We can no longer be an analogue party. We need to give CLPs proper software to design flyers.

We need to develop a workable canvassing app that ensures all the data we collect is saved digitally and optimises our chance of winning over undecided voters through targeted canvassing. I have already begun discussions on developing an app with Labour Party members.

CLPs will be provided with (inexpensive) tablets to use for data collection so that every conversation we have with individuals is a listening exercise utilised outside of election time.

We will use canvassing every time we need to carry out civic engagement, and not just for voter ID. This approach will help us join up our campaigning strategy. We need to campaign to win local and mayoral elections, police and crime commissioners and elections in Scotland and Wales. We need to use community campaigning to build trust in the

Labour brand and, as a bonus, gain crucial data to improve our strategy.

Campaign from day one There are over 100 seats with just a 5% margin. I won my seat back with a 28.4% swing. I know that campaigning should not begin two months before an election. If this happens again we would have already lost the election. Regional and Labour HQ campaign machinery must function in a joined up way to support every single candidate.

Some candidates’ contact creators weren’t updated for new voter registrations before the election and their Facebook pages were not set up to use Promote. This needs to change.

As your Deputy I will campaign from day one. Experience allows me the opportunity to make this happen. I came into Parliament from a campaigning background and I am not a career politician.

I am an activist and campaigner who happens to be a politician.

CAMPAIGN

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Upskill campaigners Members will have access to long-term training pathways to develop digital skills so that we can win arguments online. This includes training on effective use of petitions and data-collection so that our party leads on cutting edge campaigning techniques.

Persuasive conversations training will be standard for all joining members, and will be provided permanently. All members will have the option of learning training skills to deliver this training locally.

We will root campaigning in local communities Civic Pride We need to provide high quality training so that members can make meaningful change that improves peoples’ lives. Our mantra is ‘What matters to you matters to us’. All members will have the option to receive longterm training from the Community Organising Unit to give them specialist skills to campaign locally.

Distribute our energy We will support the distributed organising programmes

pioneered by Momentum during the election campaign, such as ‘Labour Legends’ and ‘Let’s Go’ groups. Members will be able to join local campaigns in other parts of the country as ‘Labour Legends’ all year round. That way our members can build networks outside of their own CLPs. But we will ensure there is a spread of support. It is unacceptable to lose seats by 100s or even 1000s votes.

There are many seats where we could have won if we had put in the resources and energy.

We will fight back against the media Fight back against dishonest media outlets We must apply basic parenting techniques: do not reward bad behaviour. It only encourages further bad behaviour. Dishonest and aggressive media outlets should not get our time. Firstly, this means calling out slurs against the Labour Party. Secondly, it means restricting media outlets who lie about us. If a media outlet is actively dishonest about the Labour Party we should not use them until they apologise. Lastly, we need to use libel law in order to show dishonest media outlets that they cannot mess with us.

CAMPAIGN

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Build Media Infastructure The Labour Party will work with trade unions to build an independent and local media ecology. Labour should establish an annual fund with contributions from Labour, trade unions and affiliates to fund highquality investigative journalism.

This money will be allocated democratically. Online media gives our Labour movement a massive opportunity to reach members at a very low cost.

We will champion online media outlets such as Novara Media and DDN, as well as established print magazines and independent podcasts. I will also support a Labour Party Radio Station and podcasts based in regional offices so that we can build knowledge and understanding of the party in an accessible way.

Spread our message to all nations and regions We will introduce a socialist social media hub. This will include regular zoom calls with MPs and Shadow Cabinet members.

Shadow Cabinet meetings will take place in different parts of the UK, followed by a broadcasted interactive question time shown on our Facebook page so that

people from the whole country can engage with party leadership.

We will utilise our membership base and use members who are experts in certain fields to represent Labour. We will support Parliamentary candidates and former MPs and MEPs to build profiles for future elections. For instance Pam Duncan-Glancy is an excellent voice on Labour economic policy and many other issues. She also happens to have a disability. The whole world deserves to hear Pam. Demand Leveson Two Based on all the recommendations from Leveson, I will campaign for better press and social media regulation to stop mistreatment and ensure we have a free, fair and accountable press. The Tories were wrong to axe Leveson Two. It is clear that excessive media intrusion is still an issue of concern. We need to get to the bottom of historical wrongdoings by the press and as a party we must renew our drive to pressure the government to implement the second stage of the Tory-abandoned Leveson Inquiry.

ORGANISE

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ORGANISE We will develop leaders Leadership pathways for members So many people are talking but not many have walked the walk.

I revived the Black Socialist Society (now BAME Labour), developed the Bernie Grant Leadership Programme (one of the party’s flagship leadership schemes) and restarted the stand-alone Women’s Conference. I delivered all this as an MP. Just imagine what I can deliver as Deputy. I will have the scope to radically change the leadership opportunities on offer for members. This includes multi-year leadership pathways to develop people using 1:1 mentoring and skills development. Building leadership capacity within our grassroots is our secret weapon.

Use our experience We need to respect the wealth of knowledge people in our communities have and look at how the party runs snap byelections and general elections from this viewpoint. Therefore, local councillors from the host area should go to conference for free so that they amplify their voices. We must actively retain the experience of organisers, former

MPs, Cllrs, MSPs, AMs, MEPs and also candidates. We will provide courses, firstly by members with lived experiences, and we will utilise the knowledge of groups like the Jewish Labour Movement, BAME Labour, Disability Labour and other affiliated groups.

We will supercharge community organising Social socialism I will safeguard the Community Organising Unit and expand it so that all Constituencies, and not just marginals, receive training and support. I will also use the infrastructure of our party for social good so that we will never again be accused of being out of touch. I will ensure that we use the party’s infrastructure to their full potential. Labour Party buildings will become a community hub to bring people together. This social infrastructure can act as one of the few spaces for intergenerational community.

Manchester Momentum has already made strides on this front by holding events during the day so that retired people are more likely to attend. The organisation of breakfast clubs, film events, after-school clubs and

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neighbourhood lunches will be encouraged and will demonstrate our party’s values in concrete terms. We have retired teachers and nurses who are ready and willing to help. Just imagine a Labour family helping each other in times of need. The Co-operative Party, one of Labour’s oldest partners, will help develop this policy.

Increase funds for CLPs Currently £2.50 of the £50 membership fee is given back to local CLPs. I will campaign to increase this to £3.00 to give CLPs more agency and scope for leadership. Innovative CLPs, such as Milton Keynes CLP, who pioneered an innovative local campaign for council houses that became one of the most popular motions at this year’s conference, will be rewarded and celebrated at conference.

Refocus the Regional Organiser Role We need to restructure the party so that Regional Organisers’ time is devoted to organising, not compliance and procedure. They have a crucial role in building membership, upskilling members and energising our movement.

The important procedural work of organising ballots, selections

and governance should not be included in the regional organising role as this is a vital, but seperate, job. Regional and community organisers will be united in the party’s aims and objectives to prepare for power.

We will hardwire community wealth-building into our party and councils Wear our values Preston City Council has pioneered community wealthbuilding and the party should learn from them. This means ensuring the Labour Party procures goods and services with our values in mind. It also means wearing our values in relation to our most transformative policy: the Green New Deal. I will launch a working group tasked with committing the Labour Party itself to get to net zero emissions as soon as possible.

“There’s nothing sweeter than being in government. Let me take us back there”

ORGANISE

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We will explore electoral reform Make votes matter The First Past the Post system favours the Tories. I will explore the option of a Citizen’s Assembly on electoral reform to discuss a more proportional system while maintaining the constituency link. We should explore introducing Single Transferable Vote for internal elections. This will be linked to supporting a proportionally elected Senate to replace the House of Lords.

Empowering Regions Decentralise Power My ultimate aim is to Encourage, Empower and Elevate. We will work towards Citizen’s Assemblies in the North and Devolution Max in Scotland and Wales. We will also explore: giving more power to Wales and Scotland so that they can select their own candidates, and having a new regional office covering smaller regions.

RECRUIT

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RECRUIT We will energise meetings Open up At the moment CLP meetings are not accessible to everyone.

Labour should introduce creche facilities or encourage parents to bring children so that members with children can attend meetings.

Organisers will also ensure members can zoom call into meetings and vote online to ensure maximum participation.

Fight for new members All members will have access to Community Organising training on mobilising new members. Therefore we will become a movement which more deliberately nurtures solidarity and a sense of community. This must be at the heart of everything we do.

We will democratise our party Reduce Gatekeeping Jeremy has made our party more democratic and I will build on that.

There are too many gatekeepers in the party and we have to ensure that all voices have a say. I will ensure Labour Party structures are reviewed and there’s a full

disclosure on the Democracy review. I will prioritise increasing transparency in party decisionmaking and ensuring that our party governance works for everyone. I will never advocate political interference in an independent system.

Turn up the volume I will amplify the voices of members by making the process of conference decisions becoming policy more transparent. This will be twinned with a public speaking training programme to ensure more members have the confidence to make speeches at conference. At the moment the lack of transparency around policy creation frustrates members, and I will change this. I will also have a 24/7 online portal so that members can feed in policy ideas when inspiration hits them.

I created the fantastic Race and Faith manifesto this way.

Recruit Diverse Candidates I will explore the option of reforming the candidate selection process to encourage more local, working-class and diverse

RECRUIT

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candidates to stand. Members should have more say in who our candidates are because we need great candidates that people want to canvas for.

We will build up the Trade Union Movement Train workplace organisers The proportion of trade union members in the private sector is too low. We need to actively grow our whole Labour Movement. I will work with trade unions to develop a course for employed and selfemployed workers to organise.

This will include practical skills workshops on how to make change, understanding of rights in the workplace and tailored 1:1 mentoring. There will be an online course so that people who work irregular shifts can also take part.

We will support young people to lead in our movement Mobilise the youth I started the phenomenal increase in youth membership by introducing Labour’s £1 membership rate. We need to maintain the energy and dynamism of our youth members to make sure that the next

generation of our party are leaders equipped to make change in the twenty-first century.

EDUCATE

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EDUCATE We will invest in our whole movement through education Political Education I launched the Emancipation Educational Trust. Emancipation and agency, rather than theory, will be at the heart of Labour’s political education. Economic education and explaining how to build a democratic and sustainable economy through new forms of ownership will be important.

Education for Equality Every single CLP will receive training courses designed by people with lived experience, with Labour values at the core. There will be courses on antisemitism, racism (including Afriphobia), transphobia, misogyny, homophobia and all types of bullying and oppression.

Don’t lose, learn I will build on the success of The World Transformed (TWT) to spread inspirational political education and TWT will be invited to become an affiliate of the Labour Party. This will include online courses designed to allow

people to understand our political situation and how change can take place.

Document Labour’s History We will apply for funding from the Lottery fund to help us create a documentary about Labour’s history in each area and region.

For example, in Exeter members mortgaged their houses in order to buy a Working Men’s Club.

This should be celebrated and this documentary will ensure that what members have sacrificed historically will be understood and remembered in perpetuity. It will be available online.

We will support members to skillshare Tap into our membership I will produce a comprehensive database of members’ skills to understand how these can be best utilised to train other members.

Each member can therefore build our movement according to their ability, and benefit according to their needs.

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DISCIPLINE We will introduce discipline Discipline the party to unite it If any MPs publically undermine the leader or the Labour Party they will be suspended by the whip and will have to reapply democratically.

MPs go off message they will have to deal with me and the whips.

I will campaign to ensure that any MP who resigns will automatically trigger a by-election. If you are elected as a labour MP and resign from the party, it is only right that the MP resigns so that their constituents get the opportunity to elect a new Labour MP.

Embed message discipline in the shadow cabinet and wider party This is crucial because the Tories know how to stick to the line. If

Divided parties do not win elections. We will only win when we are united.

PLEDGE CARD As a party we will approve the policies we campaign on at party conference. Below please find my five pledges.

I pledge to safeguard:

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Public Ownership

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The Green New Deal

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Funding Social Care

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Equality issues: pay, class, protection

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Housing

Let me know your thoughts. w w w. d a w n 4 d e p u t y. c o m