What it’s really like as a Junior Minister
I’ve been enjoying Hinterland, the memoir of former MP and Minister, Chris Mullin in the last few weeks, so it’s reminded me of this post I wrote in 2009 after reading the first volume of his diaries. I’ve always highly recommended Mullin’s diaries for anyone understanding how Parliament really works (I’d also recommend Power Trip by …
in tactics
How to – Organise a supporter Lobby of Parliament
Some of my excellent team at Save the Children have spent the last 3 months organising a lobby of Parliament in support of our Big Futures early years campaign calling for more invest in nursery teachers. Yesterday, we had an amazing day with over 60+ supporters coming along, meeting with there MPs and talking about …
in learning
Leadership in campaigns – links for Sheila McKechnie Foundation ‘Masterclass’
I was invited to speak today at a Sheila McKechnie Foundation ‘Masterclass’ on leadership in campaigns – mobilising internally and externally. It was a fun session sharing alongside Claire Hazelgrove from Friends of the Earth, and a group of 20 or so campaign leaders from across the campaigning community in the UK. We looked at …
in government, tactics
The Parliament Petition Site – a missed opportunity
At the time of writing the petition to Prevent Donald Trump from making a State Visit to the United Kingdom has reached 1,500,000 signatures – and I’m sure by the time you read this it’ll have grown further.( This site is a nice for tracking how quickly they’re growing). And while it’s great that people are …
in lists
Five for Friday – President Obama Special Edition
Anyone who follows me on Twitter will know that I’m a big fan of President Obama – so today isn’t going to be a good day. I’ve spent some of the last fortnight working my way through some of his final speeches, and through it they’ve reminded me of some powerful lessons for campaigners. So as he …
in learning, sector issues, tools
Why it’s time for campaigners to take digital security seriously…
While my password is more sophisticated than ‘password’ – you might laugh but a recent article by suggested that’s a very common password – I know I’ve not spent enough time thinking about protecting myself online. But with news of the hacking of the Clinton campaign, an awareness of how much information that I produce is held …
in learning
What more can I be doing in 2017? My campaigns resolutions for this year
Today will mark the first day in the office for many after the Christmas break. In previous years, I’ve written posts on the resolutions that you can make to be a better campaigners this year (you can read them here) they’re full of useful advice that I’d stand by, but this year I’ve decided to …
in actions
Six campaigns that I learnt from in 2016
Let’s be honest. 2016 hasn’t been a great year, and soon it’ll be over! Much of the talk I’ve seen has been dominated by learning from the big political campaigns of the year (which I’ve also written about here) But a few others campaigns have caught my eye – some because they’ve made the most …
Disagree with the result – but you can learn from Trump and Vote Leave campaigns
2016 hasn’t been a great year (and at the end of it I’d encourage everyone to read this about how to make sure we’re looking after ourselves as campaigners) – but I’m convinced that there is learning for campaigners to take from any campaign – even if you passionately disagree with the outcome. Let’s start …
Books I’ve enjoyed this year – some recommendations for campaigners
It’s the time of year when people are looking for ideas for Christmas gifts. So here are a few recommendations from things I’ve read over the last 12 months for campaigners looking to add something else to under the tree. How Change Happens – Duncan Green’s long trailed book answers a critical question that all …
mrtombaker
Head of Mobilisation at Save the Children, was Head of Campaigns at Bond, co-founder Campaign Bootcamp, blog about campaigning because I'm passionate about seeing more campaigns win, election geek (and former Labour Party activist), interested in monitoring and evaluation, blog is all my own views. Prone to bad spelling!