Carwyn on Labour Party reform

WHEN we looked at the three leaders’ positions on reforming Welsh Labour we noted a relative silence on the part of Carwyn Jones. That is because he was saving his detailed ideas until the publication of his manifesto on Monday. In a position statement today the Bridgend AM expands on that by pledging to appoint a campaigning ‘supremo’ within the Party. Nothing especially new there, but some of the Counsel General’s other proposals do bear some examination. He promises to focus the party on:

• single issue campaigns: “The Party should harness the commitment of our supporters to key campaigns, whether it’s fair trade, green energy, recycling, violence against women and child poverty”
• building activism: “The Party should find lots of routes in for people to take action. These could be online petitions, ideas exchanges, social networking, union liaison groups and taster sessions”
• community activity: “encourage our members to spend more time getting things done in the community, rather than simply campaigning for policy change”
• younger people: a new forum and “a virtual team where younger members can become e-volunteers, fundraise, recruit and chat.”

It’s easy to be jaded about this. Welsh Labour has had more campaigning relaunches than the Rhosneigr lifeboat (as David Jones MP likes to say) but that does not mean these won’t work. A party base a little less bound to the now near-annual grind of elections, and encouraged to get cracking on single issues could energise members. Likewise, members who start to act more like community activists and less like spokespersons for head office will recall a Labour movement of old, when party members used to organise seaside trips for collier’s children.

As always in this campaign, the issue soon becomes one of resources. All these innovations cost money, and that is not something in plentiful supply in today’s Labour Party. Plaid managed to improve their campaigning focus largely due to a substantial bequest by a London-based property tycoon. The chances of that kind of windfall coming Transport House’s way is remote. Without it, it’s not clear how any of the candidates can recapture the party’s campaigning mojo.