This is the month when most of our members are involved in the local election campaigns. Have a meeting in April then expect no one to turn up and a few irate phone calls - don't you know there is an election on. This year there is only one Labour/Co-operative candidate in our area - John Hacking in Chorlton Park. However other members are standing in Didsbury East (Geoff Bridson), Crumpsall (Con Keegan) as Labour candidates. Errr, there might be some more.... How will the phenomena of "Blogging For Labour" fare during an election period - when there are distractions of leaflets, canvassing and going to the pub afterwards. There are some good examples out there of MP's, Councillors and activists making good use of push button publishing. However there are a lot of static sites that should be deleted.
Will there be further use of internet technology - videos, photo slideshows, online debates, netcasting, even making your leaflet available online. Possibly, but maybe not this year. However a good start has been made. The Labour Party is featuring the local elections on its opening page. Our local Labour bloggers published the story of lower Council taxes in Labour authorities than Conservative or Lib-Dem. If you have any examples of good use of technology for political propaganda (not afraid to use that word) then email or comment. Some of the blogs we'll be following in between another bundle of leaflets will be :-
Chorlton Park Labour (Manchester)
Crumpsall Labour (Manchester)
Fallowfield Labour (Manchester)
Louise Baldock (Liverpool)
Northenden Labour (Manchester)
On The Knocker (Manchester)