This election has seen a new style of activism – carpools of Labour supporters targeting marginal areas, using US-inspired canvassing methods
In Derby North earlier this month, Labour organisers were describing a welcome situation the like of which they hadn’t seen in years. That was days before the nightmare of the Manchester terror attack, which shocked the country and put the election campaign on pause.
Back then, before the horror struck, Labour campaigners were enthusiastic over the response to My Nearest Marginal, an electioneering website launched by Momentum, the grassroots group of Jeremy Corbyn supporters. The site invites activists to punch in their postcodes and directs them to their nearest swing seat – constituencies such as Derby North, in the East Midlands, where the Labour candidate, Chris Williamson, lost to the Conservatives by 41 votes in 2015. It’s the country’s second most marginal seat, after Gower.
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