đź—“ Date: Monday, 26 September 2022
⏳ Time: 12:00
đź“ŤLocation: Auditorium 1C, ACC Liverpool, Kings Dock Street, Liverpool, England, L3 4FP
SME4Labour and 89up fringe: How Do We Win The Next General Election Through Digital?
Event summary:
We were joined at this event by Tom Mauchline from 89up, Olivia Pienaar from Strand Communications and Anya O’Shea from Portland Communications.
The discussion focused on how Labour can improve its digital communications and campaigning. We have been resoundingly defeated by the Conservative Party during the 2015 & 2019 general elections on the digital front and must do better to win next time.
Anya noted that social media companies try to funnel parties in to spending money (naturally) and that often there has been a failure to recognise what is best and what is value for money. She argued that Labour should learn from the successful examples of the Democrats in the US who have utilised digital campaigning not just to win elections ballot measures but also to drive voter registration. Specifically citing John Fetterman in Pennsylvania.
The party also needs to get better about responding to people in conversations on social media, e.g. not simply using it to broadcast our positions but to actively engage with constituents and voters.
Olivia noted that there is a desire for perfection from many people in social media, but this can hamper our ability to get our message across. It is sometimes better to make social media more organic or rushed so that we can get our point across in a more accessible way.
The meeting agreed that this is an issue we have suffered in during the past and that we need to improve if we are to win next time.
Speakers:
