Dear David..

I woke up this morning to discover Gordon Brown has emailed me. He's beginning to make a habit of this.

And I for one, am pretty damn pleased he is.

In the past, the party would solely use emails as the web equivalent of the direct marketing mail.

As such, a member's response would be exactly the same as opening a DM letter - brief scan, see they want money, bin it.

I'm glad to see that's changing.

Yesterday's moves were quite remarkable - well, one certainly was. Watching yesterday's TV and today's papers would normally reinforce those concerns. I see the Daily Mail's headline is 'Arise Lord Sleaze.'

That's why Gordon's email works. It's a personal and intimate communication that has no other agenda other than to explain his decision. Take a look:

Dear David

You will have seen from the news that I have carried out changes in the Government today. I wanted to contact you directly to let you know the thinking behind these changes.

We are living through the first truly global financial crisis that started in America, but where we must in Britain now do everything we can to ensure the stability of our economic system.

Serious people are needed for these serious times. Margaret Beckett has come back into Government and I have also promoted some of our Party’s best new talent to help deal with the new challenges we face.

I want to reconstruct the way we govern to meet these challenges. Therefore I have created a new National Economic Council and put it on a day-to-day footing. It will meet for the first time on Monday.

I have brought back Peter Mandelson from Brussels to lead our Business Department. Peter has been a European Commissioner of great distinction. He has unrivalled experience in international business issues and has built a reputation over these last few years as someone who can get things done.

I believe the changes I have announced today are in the national interest. Our undivided attention must be on the security of millions of families and households who have been facing higher bills and now face the uncertainty caused by the financial failures in America and elsewhere.

Thank you for all that you do.

Gordon Brown

That's quite alright, Gordon. And thanks for all you do too!

The email wasn't edited, censored or misquoted. It simply provided a context and reasoning for the reshuffle. As such, I think it will go quite some way to allaying certain members' doubts.

But moving forward, I'd like to see Labour going much further, taking a leaf out of the Democrats book and telling supporters first.

Obama asked his supporters to register their details to find out who his VP choic was. They then received a text before the journalists - they felt included, special and that they mattered more. (Also, a very clever way of capturing data - I think Obama will be sending a few more texts before the campaign's over!)

So imagine how powerful it would have been for members and supporters to find out about the Cabinet reshuffle BEFORE the media.

When we engage with supporters, they respond well. 2.9 million registered for Obama's texts and Go Fourth - the Campaign for a Labour Fourth Term - had a remarkable reaction at conference which has now been transferred to the social networks.

A party member set up a Go Fourth Facebook group. Within two weeks it's gone from a handful of supporters to 1,400 - that's 100 new friends every day. It now has more Facebook supporters than Compass, Progress and even Conservative Future.

They may not all become active supporters but they will be effective advocates. Studies have shown that those who read blogs and actively use Facebook are seven times more likely to be an influencer or opinion former.

So next time you have a big announcement Gordon, why not send an email with this intro:

Dear David

I've carried out changes to the Government today.

But I wanted you to be the FIRST to know.

Let's go fouth

I sometimes wonder whether I'm too optimistic for my own good.

I spent today taking calls at work from friends down about the result, thinking the game's up. "We're just fucked" seemed to be a common refrain.

Perhaps it's a mindset from years watching the Tigers, but I was brought up to believe that it's never over whilst you've still got time on the clock. Difficult - yes. Hard - undoubtedly. But impossible, no.

I think people know Gordon's been given a tough hand - rocketing food prices, uncertainty in the housing market and speculators driving up oil. Some even think he's getting persecuted for not having the best presentational skills.

But colleagues who campaigned up in Glasgow East and in the phone banks said time and time again, the voters were saying they didn't really know what we stand for anymore.

People know we're tough on security but 42 days detention without trial, ID cards and keeping innocent people on a DNA database are hardly the kind of policies to send people flocking to the poll booths.

 

I think it's time to start telling them what we're FOR. 

• Helping parents give their kids the best start in life
• Providing the education and training opportunities to help people get decent jobs 
• Supporting those who need help to get back in work
• A heath service driven by the quality of care
• Making sure pensioners enjoy the retirement they deserve
  

We need to get back to clear, deliverable and progressive policies and give the public compelling new reasons to back us again.

The 1997 pledge cards worked for three reasons. Firstly, people could see what our priorities were, secondly they were achievable and distinct targets and thirdly, they were easy to remember.

1. Cut class sizes to 30 or under for those 7 and under
2. Fast track punishment for persistent offenders
3. Cut NHS waiting lists by 100,000
4. Get 250,000 under 25s off benefit and into work 
5. Ensure low inflation
   

11 years later, we need to ask our members what those priorities should be for the next election - now.  Your ordinary member, who doesn't go to wards or GCs, rightly feels ignored, demotivated and unloved of late. No one likes to their team go on a losing streak.

Maybe that's because we still live by the old politics, where policy is decided at the highest level and left to the grassroots to sell on the doorstep.

So let's have a proper open debate - not a token consultation - about where we really need to go.  But let's also sell back the many successes of three successive Labour Governments.

Let's see Progress, Compass and The Fabians work together to play the increasingly crucial part in making that convincing argument for the fourth term.

And most importantly, let's forget all this talk about dumping Gordon. He's by far the best person to get us through these tough economic times (though if I hear him saying he's "getting on with the job" one more time, I WILL scream!) 

So no, we're not 'fucked.' 

We're bruised. We're bloodied. 

But we're not going down without a fight.

 

Don't shoot the messenger, Gordon

I've been quite busy in the last few weeks and a bit slack on updating the blog. 

With Roz out of hospital, I've finally been getting round to those husband-y tasks that need to be done.

That means assembling filing cabinets, putting boxes away - since my run in Hull and Roz's illness, we've still had a good few boxes of belongings that needed unpacking.

In some ways, we feel we've been given permission to live again after existing in limbo for the best past of the year.

But last week has spurred me to get back on the Mac again.

If you get a chance, read Polly Tonybee's piece on how the Government seems to have become its own worst enemy on presentation.

Caroline Flint's progressive policy on getting first time buyers on the ladder, the workfare reforms and the Youth Action Plan really deserved their fair share of shout.

 

But instead the whole week has been dominated about the perceived U turn on A&E visits for those charged with knife crime. There's a lot of good things to be said about restorative justice but in the current climate, this was always going to be a step too far.

I believe ministers didn't fully sign up to this, but it seems the Home Office press office might have over-spun the proposal,  according to PR Week. 

The lack of clarity on message was typified by Gordon's visit to the Middle East. When you want to highlight the fact that British troops will be leaving Iraq soon rather than later and a two state solution is within sight, being accidently pictured behind a helicopter-mounted heavy machine gun doesn't really reinforce the image of a consensus-building country.

Could it be that the people surrounding Gordon don't feel they have the confidence to highlight all these potential pitfalls?

It's a necessity for any decent comms person to be that critical friend, to risk the wrath to protect the client's reputation. For many years I did just that with John. Whilst on occasion  he didn't like the initial analysis (and that was a bit of an understatement as no-one likes to be told they might be wrong) he respected the opinion of someone outside the bubble.

The Prime Minister has unwittingly of late let himself be 'defined' by the media - the election that never was, the 10p tax rate and Northern Rock; though all have rational arguments for delay, all fed the Tory and media line that he was "dithering."

What No10 needs to do is to stop being LED by the news agenda and start SETTING it. Campbell revealed in his diaries that Blair didn't devour the news papers and very rarely engaged with broadcast.

So my advice would be: "Gordon, turn off the TV, cancel the papers, bring back the grid and start following your heart-felt principles." 

And don't shoot the messenger - work with them.