Peter Kenyon

The Labour Party website should be shut down: a riposte

Sunny Hundal, editor of Liberal Conspiracy and a Labour Party member blogged earlier today that the Labour Party site was rubbish and should be shut down.

I have a different perspective:

The Labour Parrty website should inspire people to join, and remain full voting members. To this end I commend the Labour Democratic Network, and the Labour Transparency Project.

But be warned, this is not the time to throw the proverbial socialist baby out with the nerdy bathwater. I spoke to a staffer who shall remain nameless at Conference who introduced me to a facility to enable CLP secretaries to eMail their members using a facility somewhere on the Labour Party website.

I’m just about to check it out and will report back later. Lurking in the Labour Party online offering are datasets of immense value to an entirely different web presence. One that Labour e-literates will get in a flash.

I'm sympathetic, but when I asked Sunny during Conference which CLP he was a member of he couldn't tell me. As a constituency labour party (CLP) and  branch (BLP) secretary, I have a  different take. 

This is the time to gather round and identify the datasets and the online tools that are of real value to members. To this end the Labour Democratic Network is happy to act as a broker. Just sign up and we'll keep you in the loop.

UPDATE 6 Oct 2011 0930: Sunny has asked me to assure you that he now knows which CLP he is assigned to

 

Psst....Liberal conspiracy goes West

Good to see that Liberal Conspiracy is keeping up with news from afar. Sunny Hundal is stateside reporting on a story avid followers of this blog will recall was posted nearly a week ago. The more of us that look closely at this fascinating aspect of the Obama campaign the better. If Obama wins the US Presidency, the lessons will become as compelling for political party rebuilding as Labour Party Leader Gordon Brown's package to restore global financial stability, establish global regulation and set the agenda to drag the world out of recession.

Remember, Obama is funding his campaign from small donations, not taxpayer handouts. Responsibility for campaigning (it is said) is being devolved without top-down control. Local management, accountability and planning is being enabled.

Memo to Ray Collins, recently appointed Labour Party General Secretary: How many local Labour Party units are currently suspended? Was suspension appropriate? Are there alternatives? What could the Labour Party learn from the 'New Organizers'? A must for the NEC away-day in mid-November whatever the outcome of the US Presidentials, I'd say.