| Save the Labour Party |
| NEWS RELEASE 02/05 Blair warned not to forget his party activists For immediate release Manchester, 29 January – Grassroots Labour Party activists are warning Labour Leader Tony Blair not to forget party activists in the run-up to the General Election campaign. STLP - Save The Labour Party - has written to Blair to remind him of the key role volunteers will play when it comes to getting Labour MPs elected whenever the election is announced. The letter warns: "Too much time is being wasted trying to justify unpopular policies on the doorstep. We are looking to the Manifesto for clear evidence that you have learned that ad hoc policy making , a characteristic of the second Labour government, has no place in the Labour Party. "Our ability to persuade rank-and-file members to campaign actively for Labour will depend heavily on the integrity, style and quality of leadership exercised by you and your hand-picked Election team. The letter concludes: "Our abiding hope is that in your forthcoming speeches you will pay tribute to the vital role played in the Labour Party by volunteer members." Ends More information from STLP Chair Peter Kenyon 0207 374 6941/078 0221 6591 peter.g.kenyon@btinternet.com Notes to editors: 1. STLP was formed in 2003 and campaigns to restore the Labour Party as a democratically-run membership organisation 2. A survey carried out by STLP shows that in 2004 Labour Party membership fell for the eighth successive year. It is estimated that Party membership has fallen by half since Labour came to power in 1997. 3. A full text of STLP's letter is attached. Click here 4. The STLP newly constituted committee was meeting in Manchester to review its work programme for 2005 and arrange events. 5. Founded in 2003, STLP holds annual elections for its national committee in the interests of promoting good practice both for corporate governance and democracy |