Labourspace.com attracts 15 campaign groups in first month
Howard Lake | 12 November 2006 | News
Labourspace.com, the Labour Party’s new website that encourages people, organisations and community groups to post details of their campaigns “to a network of people that want to listen and help where possible”, has generated just 15 campaign listings in its first month.
The site has attracted “thousands of people”, although this week’s most popular campaign has secured only 312 votes. Indeed, only eight organisations have listed their campaign under this month’s theme of health. No organisation has yet posted under the prosperity and work month’s theme.
Still, such low levels of participation by organisations and individuals could make it easier for an organisation to get its message heard.
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Once an organisation has posted its campaign details on the site, it is encouraged to persuade its supporters to vote for it online and to add their comments to the issues raised.
At the end of each month Labour Party chair Hazel Blears MP will choose one local and one national campaign from those listed and report on it to her fellow Cabinet members. She will also raise the key issues with a relevant Labour minister.
For the first six months the website will have a monthly theme. ‘Health’ runs until 15 November, ‘Creating sustainable communities’ from 16 November to 16 December 2006, ‘Crime, justice, citizenship and equality’ from 7 December to 31 December 2006, ‘Education and skills’ from 2 January to 31 January 2007, ‘Britain in the world’ from 1 February to 28 February 2007, and ‘Prosperity and work’ from 1 March to 31 March 2007.
Labourspace.com is part of Labour’s new “Let’s talk” initiative, designed to generate “frank and open debate about the challenges the British public face each day”. The debate, say Labour, will be fed into the Labour Party’s policy-making process.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.