On March 12 and 13, the Progress political weekend made its long-awaited return, at Stoke Rochford Hall near Grantham. Over 100 Progress members, as well as leading Labour party figures and activists, trade unionists and bloggers, attended the first such weekend in 15 years. Jim Murphy opened the event by addressing the issue of winning back lost voters, arguing that Labour is at its best when it is on the front foot as modernisers and leaders of change.
Breakout sessions took place over both days, offering help on getting selected, writing speeches, using new media, and working with the (old) media. Progress vice-chair Rachel Reeves led a session on Labour’s political economy, and ProgressOnline columnist and NEC member Luke Akehurst delivered a lively and enlightening session on the history of the Labour party.
As part of the policy review, Liam Byrne led a session asking attendees where the party should be in terms of the economy, community and politics ahead of the next election. The outcome of this session was a number of excellent policy and party proposals that will now be carried into the policy review.
On Sunday morning, Caroline Flint had Twitter buzzing with a barnstorming speech on aspiration and the need for Labour to reaffirm its role as the party for people who want a better life, before Douglas Alexander brought the weekend to a close laying out his vision for where Labour should be at the midpoint of the parliament. To read more about what went on at the weekend visit archive.progressonline.org.uk or search #ppw11.
Progress’ Labour4HighSpeed2 campaign continues to gather pace, with Ed Balls declaring that Labour has now cleared the leaves off the line with its policy on the issue, and backing extending the route to Leeds and Manchester. To find out more about how you can help the campaign, visit archive.progressonline.org.uk/Labour4HighSpeed2.
Progress annual conference takes place on Saturday 21 May. Speakers include Ed Miliband and shadow cabinet members Douglas Alexander, John Denham, Caroline Flint, Ivan Lewis and Tessa Jowell. For information on the conference and all our other events check out archive.progressonline.org.uk