Jeremy Corbyn plans strong social media campaign for next general election

Last Updated: August 30, 2016By
Corbyn’s 2015 leadership win was aided in part by the use of a phone canvassing app, with such innovations likened to tactics used by Bernie Sanders in the US [Composite: Rex/PA].

Corbyn’s 2015 leadership win was aided in part by the use of a phone canvassing app, with such innovations likened to tactics used by Bernie Sanders in the US [Composite: Rex/PA].

Any plan to bypass a biased mainstream press is a good idea, in This Writer’s opinion.

I made the point to a Wales-based Labour MP at the start of the Assembly election campaign earlier this year and it seems to have been taken seriously (although that’s not to suggest I’m taking credit for this in any way).

Left-wing commentators like Vox Political, The Canary, Another Angry Voice and many more have a huge amount of influence because we are very good at supporting any arguments we put forward with factual information.

It means readers can see exactly why we support particular political policy platforms – and why we oppose others.

Some might argue that Bernie Sanders lost the Democratic Presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton – so why should Mr Corbyn follow such a route?

The answer lies in the difference between the US and UK electoral systems. Mrs Clinton had used her insider knowledge to secure a huge number of nominations from the Democrat electoral college before campaigning had even begun (and the validity of that approach is up for debate). It is hugely to Mr Sanders’s credit that he ran as close a race as he did.

Here, of course, we simply vote for the candidate we want to be our MP, so the kind of pre-arranging that Mrs Clinton managed won’t – or shouldn’t happen.

And digital campaigning has worked for Mr Corbyn so far.

To be honest, This Writer was wondering why Labour didn’t harness it in the 2015 general election; it would certainly have meant fears about the reaction of the right-wing media could have been bypassed. Know what I mean, Owen Smith?

Jeremy Corbyn plans to make Labour’s next general election campaign a digital affair, modelled in part on the social media techniques used by Bernie Sanders during his run for the Democratic nomination in the US.

The promise is part of a wider announcement of the Labour leader’s digital policies, including a commitment to universal high-speed broadband and mobile connectivity across the UK, and to new online learning resources.

Corbyn [was] expected to say in a speech in east London that his efforts to see off Owen Smith, the leadership challenger, were “leading the way in harnessing the advances of new technology to organise political campaigning like we’ve never seen before”.

Corbyn supporters say his regular presence on social media, along with the use of other technological innovations, helps him bypass a suspicious mainstream news media and could see a general election message delivered more effectively than polls suggest.

His initial election as Labour leader was credited in part to his team’s bespoke phone canvassing app, which helped volunteers contact potential voters. In his speech, Corbyn [was] expected to liken such innovations to tactics used by Sanders, the Vermont senator who ran Hillary Clinton surprisingly close for the Democrat presidential nomination.

Source: Jeremy Corbyn plans Sanders-style campaign for next general election | Politics | The Guardian

ADVERT




Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(
but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Donate Button with Credit Cards

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

HWG PrintHWG eBook

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

SWAHTprint SWAHTeBook

latest video

news via inbox

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

17 Comments

  1. jeffrey davies August 30, 2016 at 11:48 am - Reply

    clinton used dubious means to gain over saunders yet we see the same thing happening here is it not the blairites hiding votes the blairites hiding voters and fixing the news hmmm yep it couldnt happen here silly me

    • Rusty August 30, 2016 at 12:19 pm - Reply

      You are right, bernie Sanders actually won but the election was stolen using many different ways to defraud the electorate! And the fix is on here as well.

      • Mike Sivier August 30, 2016 at 12:29 pm - Reply

        I didn’t say he won, because he didn’t win.

      • Rusty August 30, 2016 at 12:47 pm - Reply

        I’m saying it because it’s the truth! In some states where hilary won the exit pole was out by up to 30%, the company whose machines in those states backed hilary and there was no paper trail, if you bother to look you would know this!

        • Mike Sivier August 31, 2016 at 2:08 pm - Reply

          Can you demonstrate this with a link to a reputable source of evidence?

          • Rusty August 31, 2016 at 2:45 pm

            https://youtu.be/MoGeDGHmwJU and this if you like a bit of humour https://youtu.be/O_mJ5KutY8s there is more but I’ve been too busy to keep everything on this! I hope this helps.

          • Mike Sivier September 1, 2016 at 12:16 am

            Thanks. This is very interesting indeed.

  2. Rik August 30, 2016 at 12:53 pm - Reply

    A very good read
    Yes we have come a long way since WWW was introduced
    with high speed etc . . . I remember as a kid when the elections were on and all the cars with loudspeakers screaming out for their votes & arrangements were made to drive people to the polling stations as well. . lol
    Those were the days eh?

    • Mike Sivier August 31, 2016 at 2:07 pm - Reply

      We still have those loudspeakers and arrangements are still made to drive people to polling stations.

  3. Giri Arulampalam August 30, 2016 at 12:59 pm - Reply

    It is not fair to compare the American Bernie Sanders campaign with the Corbyn campaign.Mr Sanders has very wealthy sponsors unlike Socialist Corbyn.However, I have voted for Owen Smith as Corbyn stated recently that he is not interested in our Labour Party winning the next General Election in 2020. Our British Labour Party can’t afford another General Election defeat in 2020.

    • Mike Sivier August 31, 2016 at 2:05 pm - Reply

      Labour has received more funds in the last year than any other political party. It’s a consequence of popularity.
      I find your claim about Mr Corbyn curious. Where and when did he say this? Let’s have a link to the evidence.

  4. Pablo August 30, 2016 at 1:13 pm - Reply

    I agree with your assessment entirely Mike.

    The MSM in the UK are enormously influential and are little more than organs of propaganda for the right-wing neoliberal Establishment. The print and TV media in particular are very heavily biased against progressive ideas. In that context, the hope that the MSM can somehow be ‘corrected’ towards working within a less biased framework looks more or less futile. Digital media, such as your excellent blog and others, plus online TV and radio content can help to break the stranglehold of the MSM.

    Corbyn’s plans for a strong social media election campaign, as well as the plans contained within his ‘digital manifesto’, are exactly the types of ideas we need.

  5. Roland Laycock August 30, 2016 at 1:44 pm - Reply

    I trust Jeremy but I will never trust the tories or the US both will stab you in the back first chance they get

  6. casalealex August 30, 2016 at 3:55 pm - Reply

    I am feeling confident, that the hope which has grown into actual belief, shows that we will certainly have a Democratic and Social Labour government in 2020.

    We must stay positive and pull together in these earnestly expectant times. We will overcome the blatant machinations being perpetrated by those whom we have learned are malevolent in their back stabbing plot which they have insidiously perpetrated against us.

    POLITICS – The conduct of public affairs for private advantage. Ambrose Bierce

  7. Jsteel August 30, 2016 at 5:04 pm - Reply

    IT is very, very expensive, but feasible. The Tories used it extensively (and effectively) in 2015.

    • Mike Sivier August 31, 2016 at 1:46 pm - Reply

      Expensive?

  8. mohandeer August 30, 2016 at 5:46 pm - Reply

    Good comments Mike. The reason Bernie Sanders failed was not because of any lack of support using the canvassing app – that was down to the rampant vote rigging and election fraud. The Labour Party is going down the same route but Tories have also done their share to undermine any democratic process. Our propagandist and dishonest MSM work against the majority of the plebs so any circumventing of their corrupt influence is to be welcomed.

Leave A Comment