The Skwawkbox blog got hold of a copy of a confidential strategy memo I had sent to Karie Murphy and Seumas Milne in early December, and via intermediaries to Andrew Murray, chief of staff to Len McCluskey and a key LOTO (Leader of the Opposition) office adviser.

I was glad that Skwawkbox broke his ten-day silence on my candidacy yesterday, publishing my responses on the vexed issues of anti-semitism and internal discipline; and that he recognised my expertise as a campaigner, even going so far as to suggest I might get a job as campaign director under Jennie Formby. For…

Here’s what I said (or at least, my notes for the NEC conversation!) when I was one of the eight candidates interviewed for the role of Labour General Secretary. Curious to hear what others think (although we’ve come so far since then, and there’s much more to say now — especially on cutting-edge democratic and campaigning innovation). I will be sharing more ideas for the future soon; and also, sharing more of the story of what happened in 2011.

I see three major challenges for our party.

First, we need to get much, much better at engaging and mobilizing ALL…

I’m a network organiser, a movement-builder, and a member of many things — including the Labour Party, and Momentum. I got over my Groucho Marx tendency on clubs/tribes a long time ago… just as long as they’re open tribes, or can be met with openness.

These links might be interesting if you’re curious about my “back-story” for any reason:

Jeremy Corbyn copies the Bernie Sanders playbook

Chairing Labour As A Social Movement event at The World Transformed

Daily Politics: reactions to changes within Momentum

The old politics is dying: people power can win the next election

At Crowdpac we’ve also…

The UK’s Prospect Magazine published my long read on the Political Revolution of 2016. Includes stories from the frontline of the Trump, Brexit and Sanders revolutions (plus a sprinkling of historical perspective and a dash of status-quo-baiting). If you read just one thing I’ve written, make it this.

Taster below:

Last year was Year One of the west’s political revolution — our 1989… After the Berlin Wall came down, western cosmopolitans and technocrats raced to claim victory. Yet beneath the euphoria of the New World Order, our own contradictions were festering — stagnant wages, gaping inequality and a feeling that…

Crowdpac is an open platform for new politics — a place where anyone can crowdfund a campaign or nominate someone for office. We also provide voter information: for example, we map politicians’ positions transparently using big data to help you decide who to support.

While we come from opposite sides, my co-founder Steve Hilton and I agree that the existing political system is breaking down, and that big money and vested interests have too much power.

We’re still a start-up, but we have already hosted a wide range of campaigns on our platforms in the US and the UK:

• Over…

This piece was published in the Fabian Review in September 2016

Social democratic parties are crumbling all across Europe. Insurgent political forces are on the rise, from left to right. The US establishment was shaken to its foundations by the populist campaigns of Trump and Sanders, and new movements have also been making waves in southern democracies like India.

Knee-jerk elitists dismiss all populism out of hand, but this is short-sighted folly. Progressive giants like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Bobby Kennedy and Nye Bevan were passionate populists. Today’s economic and social insecurities demand a practical radicalism equal to their example. …

This referendum casts a stark spotlight on the state of our democracy. Jo Cox was one of the most passionate, principled and honest campaigners I have ever known, and she was killed amidst a toxic fog of cynical campaigning and failing politics.

It is time for all of us to take responsibility. Our own actions in the coming days will shape our country for decades to come. Jo’s vision was clear. As she said in her maiden speech, “We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us.” But this ideal cannot be achieved…

In less than two weeks, the people of the UK will vote on the most important decision of our generation: should Britain be In or Out of the European Union?

This referendum outcome will shape our society’s direction in the coming decades. A national conversation about what kind of country we want to live in has begun to emerge.

Yet right now, this conversation too often feels like a dialogue of the deaf. The campaigns have been full of sound and fury, as politicians and true believers on each side spin ever more frantically. …