So there are now just 10 days left to go, and the NEC contest is fairly heating up. I started this blog 6 weeks ago, not long after I had kicked off my campaign for election to the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party. This blog has the privelege of being the first ever website devoted to a campaign for election to the NEC, and has been accompanied by Bebo and Facebook campaigns to boot. In the last six weeks, I’ve typed over 10,000 words on this blog, and it’s now getting over 150 visits a week, while the number of friends who have joined the Bebo and Facebook campaigns are very encouraging.
During the campaign, I started off with a brief biography of myself for those who may not have known me previously. I’ve also posted my views on a range of political discussions, such as compulsory union recognition, the 2007 Constituency Commission report, and most publicly, the Civil Unions Bill 2006 (here, here, here and here!!).
While spending some time commenting on political issues of the day, I thought it was even more important to spend time outlining my ideas for areas of the Labour Party which need to be addressed by the incoming NEC, and my views on some challenges which face the party in the coming years. To this end, I began by outlining my five key election commitments here. I also addressed the disappointing turnout for the Deputy Leadership election, ways in which I believe we can increase party membership, how to ensure Eamon Gilmore can participate in the next Leaders’ TV debate, our relationship with the SDLP, and improving Youth Participation at all levels of the Party.
I don’t think this internet campaign will have a massive impact on the election result. Nevertheless, I think it has been really helpful as a place to direct people towards to allow them to find out more about me as a candidate, as well as providing me with an outlet within which I could hone my own message. Internet political campaigning can only continue to grow in Ireland, and I’m delighted that I’ve been able to bring such campaigning to the Labour Party NEC Elections – hopefully it will be a trend for others to follow in future campaigns.
Obviously, I’ve been campaigning offline also, with leaflets and letters being sent off to members around the country and my phonebill rapidly rising by the minute! The most fun aspect for me, however, has been physically visiting branches and constituencies to canvass for support. Trinity College Branch are hosting a hustings between a lot of the various candidates this evening, and it is the 20th branch/constituency meeting I’ve attended over the last 6 weeks. My five minute speech is now virtually set in stone, but I really enjoy the Q&A sessions which normally follow such meetings – they allow members to ask questions that interest them, and provide us with much more of a challenge than delivering our speeches.
There are still 10 days to go, and I’m not closing down the blog just yet, but I thought this was a good opportunity to have a quick look back at the campaign. Roll on November 17th!
