PRESS RELEASE
Southend Labour ran a
training session on Saturday afternoon, 28th January 2017, upstairs at
O'Neill's pub. Around 30 members and supporters listened as Labour
Councillors gave their views on how to become more active in the local
Labour Party. There was also plenty of time available for questions and
answers to fill in the details about just how we do that.
Cllr
Julian Ware-Lane opened the event by explaining why it was necessary to
focus on the issues to be discussed and he then introduced each speaker
to the stage. Many thanks to the excellent sound system at O'Neill's all
present could hear every word!
Campaigning and activism was the
topic chosen by Cllr Kevin Robinson, and he used his experiences of past
elections and campaigns to encourage everyone to get involved in
whatever way they can to help in future, even if that is only to put a
Labour poster in their window. There is a whole range of tasks that
activists can get involved in, including distributing leaflets,
canvassing, and participating in on-line social media.
In UK
political parties women are often outnumbered by men, as in the House of
Commons, and Cllr Anne Jones stressed the point that this has to
change. Cllr Jones described her own life and what it is like from a
woman’s perspective in British politics. The Labour Party has a
principle that it will ensure gender equality within its own
organisation and this must be rolled out to the country at large.
Southend
Labour’s newest Councillor is Cllr Helen McDonald, who was elected in
May 2016 to represent Kursaal Ward. Cllr McDonald described how she had
to quickly learn what it meant to be a Councillor and the type of
activities that this involved. To test our knowledge Cllr McDonald asked
the audience to spend 5 minutes trying to write down what they thought a
Councillor was responsible for, and this led to a discussion about the
amount of work involved.
Finally Cllr Charles Willis talked about
the local Labour Party organisation and politics in Southend. The party
not only comprises a structure that has officers at Constituency level,
but also at the more local level there are branches that operate at the
Ward level. Members are encouraged to participate in meetings and to get
involved with the local campaigns and policies that are discussed.
Those
present had an inspiring afternoon, and enjoyed a buffet meal during
the break. There was also a quiz, with prizes, to test the knowledge
about past Prime Ministers, geography, history and politics.
There will
be further training sessions like this in future and all members are
encouraged to become activists, candidates, councillors.
Julian
said: "The feedback on the day was very positive and I believe we have
unearthed a few more activists. This was meant to be both a fun and
educational event, and I think we achieved that."
He added: "That there are people coming forward who want to engage with their community is good news for Southend-on-Sea."
