Jonathan Cox for Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg Bridgend and the Vale

I believe Welsh Labour’s mission is to be truly radical – to make “hope possible, rather than despair convincing”. 

My hope is born of experience. That we have more in common than divides us.  That we can defeat the far-right. And that the Labour Party can fight for a Real Living Wage and welcome refugees at the same time.

I’ve got a plan to turn the Labour Party into a vibrant campaigning movement as well as an effective election machine – and I want you to help shape it. So have a read and get in touch if you want to talk about it on 07919 484066 or jonathan4labour@gmail.com.

I’m keen to meet with Labour Party members in Bridgend and the Vale. If you’d like to meet for a cup of tea or on a video call, chat to me on the phone, or invite me to a community event, please do get in touch.

1. Mobilise our Membership

We have over 800 members across Bridgend and the Vale, but only a small proportion of our membership are regularly active. At a time when we are outgunned on social media and when our popularity is low, our people are our best asset – but we are criminally under-utilising their gifts and talents.

My aim will be to double the number of activists ahead of the Senedd elections.

There is a community organising principle that you should ‘put people before programme’. In essence it means starting by building trust and relationship with people, understanding their motivations, gifts and talents, and then finding opportunities to contribute that suit them. There will be new ways to engage – doorknocking and leafleting, yes, but also gardening, baking, casework advocacy, fundraising etc. There’ll be a role for everyone in the movement.

• I’ll make sure every member in the constituency is offered a bespoke conversation about how they’d like to contribute to the Senedd campaign (and it won’t be just trying to dragoon you into doorknocking!).
  
• I’ll also offer community organising training to every branch, and support to run a branch development programme.
  
• And I’ll make sure there is an opportunity to shape our campaign strategy, through weekly ‘Deeds not Words’ Campaign Workshops on Friday evenings. If I’m going to ask you to campaign, you ought to have a say in how the campaign is run!

2. Make a Movement

Beyond our Party membership we have a wider hinterland of people and organisations who can help us build a Movement for Change. If we can get more organisations involved we build our capacity for campaigning locally.

• I’ll invest time to connect with trade union branches and co-operatives to reweave the fabric of the Labour movement that has been fraying in recent years.
  
• I’ll build connections with wider community organisations to engage them in the Labour movement and get them prepared for the Senedd election.
  
• I’ll arrange regular induction sessions for new activists from the wider movement.

3. Connect with our Communities

We are at a perilous moment for the Labour Party. The success of our electoral machine over the past century has made us complacent. Yes, Welsh Labour has won many elections, but on a lower and lower turnout and share of the vote over time.

We were given a warning in the Brexit Referendum when so many traditionally Labour-voting communities voted Leave, but we haven’t listened sufficiently to what those voters were trying to tell us in 2016 about their loss of faith in mainstream politics to change their lives (I’m pro-Remain, by the way – the whole point is that it was never about the EU).

We’ve kidded ourselves that many of our voters were pro-Labour, when in fact what many of them were was anti-Tory, and now they have a viable alternative to vote for in Reform or Plaid.

In short, we’ve lost the trust of swathes of our core support – and we badly need to rebuild that trust. You cannot build trust through a screen – trust is built through face-to-face relationships. That’s where I will be investing my time.

Now is the time for Welsh Labour to re-connect with our communities.

• I’ll train a volunteer Community Organiser in every branch (that wants one) – someone focused on building relationships, trust, teams and community connections.
  
• I’ll help local branches map the organisations and leaders that make their community tick – and help them build up influencing relationships;
  
• I’ll visit every one of the 106 distinct communities in the constituency between now and the election in May as part of a ‘Red Welsh Way’ Listening Tour to position Labour as their community’s champion.

4. Listen with Humility

The polls and recent by-election losses should be prompting us to stop, reflect and listen. We had great candidates, lots of dedicated activists, and the most sophisticated voter tools – and yet consistently our voters are staying at home, Reform are turning out non-voters in large numbers, and Plaid are claiming the mantle of the party of the left best able to challenge Reform.

Something profound is happening in historical political alignments, and we can no longer pretend that if we do what we have always done we will get a positive result.

We need to show that we are prepared to listen with humility – and we have to challenge some of the traditional ways we do things if they are no longer working for us.

• I’ll offer training in a ‘deep canvassing’ approach that equips members to effectively engage voters who we have removed from our doorknocking rounds because they are not solid Labour voters;
  
• I’ll make myself available for ‘Courageous Conversations’ with friends and family of Party members who used to vote Labour but are now Reform or Plaid-curious;
  
• As part of the ‘Red Welsh Way’ Listening Tour I’ll visit all 106 communities in the constituency to listen to what people there think makes their community great, and what the Senedd could do to make it better.

5. Deeds not Words, Show not Tell

The electorate is not in a position where it really wants to hear us tell them what they should think or how they should vote just now. If we want to earn our right to be heard we need to demonstrate Labour values in action.

We need to focus on deeds, not words. We should show, not tell.

Over the summer, as we have been engaging voters on the doorstep, we have found that they are often angry about national issues, but when the conversation turns to how we can be a movement for change on local issues the conversation completely changes. We need to demonstrate that we are on their side by delivering change on the bread-and-butter issues that get raised on the doorstep.

• I’ll support branches to develop a range of live local campaigns that are meaningful to people in their local area, and create tangible change that demonstrates Labour values in action;
  
• I’ll support the development of campaigns across the constituency that show the difference Labour makes – such as making Bridgend and the Vale a Living Wage Place, and getting schools and colleges to register their students to vote;
  
• I’ve already been co-ordinating action against the far-right through Hope not Hate and the creation of refugee welcome groups, such as Croeso Rhws.