Labour set to launch huge summer push

IT WILL BE LARGEST CAMPAIGN OUTSIDE ELECTION – LAVERY

LABOUR is to use the summer break to launch “the largest ever campaign” seen outside a General Election.

Party chair Ian Lavery said Labour will target 75 seats with a series of high-profile visits and commit “significant resources” to getting its message across on social media.

Labour believes Theresa May’s divided Conservative Government “could collapse at any time”, said Mr Lavery.

But he said the party understood that it needed to reach out to more people after failing to win the June General Election, adding: “It’s going to be extremely challenging.”

Speaking to ChronicleLive, Mr Lavery said Labour – and leader Jeremy Corbyn – were hungry to take power.

“We’re not resting on our laurels. Jeremy is doing an awful lot of work. The Shadow Cabinet is going to be doing an awful lot of work,” he said.

“We are absolutely confident that we can increase the support the party had.

“Those keys Downing Street basically dangling front of our face.

“We want to be grabbing them and taking power and delivering.”

Parliament breaks up for the summer recess on Thursday, and won’t meet again until September 5.

There’s nothing to stop parties campaigning in this period but it has traditionally been a quiet period for political activity, as MPs take holidays and party leaders prepare for annual conferences beginning later in September.

This summer, however, Mr Corbyn is expected to visit at least 40 of the 75 target seats identified by Labour.

The party will focus on six key issues throughout the summer – pay, standards of living, education, industrial strategy, aspiration and health and social care.

Mr Lavery, MP

to are

in for Wansbeck, was one of two joint co-ordinators of Labour’s election campaign earlier in the year.

He said: “We really feel as if we are inching our way to 10 Downing Street. We know how important it is to continue the momentum and as such we have identified 75 key seats that we need to win to form the next government, and we’ll be focusing heavily on those key seats.

“Jeremy will be heading for as many as he can, but at the moment we have 40 key target seats which he’ll be looking to attend and campaign in during the summer recess. And also we’ll have the shadow cabinet members, front-benchers, all present at different locations throughout the recess.

“We see this as absolutely key to making further progress and getting the message out from the manifesto about how we plan to transform lives.”

He said Labour would also focus on digital campaigning, to reach people who increasingly get information from services such as Twitter or Facebook rather than the traditional media.

He added: “This is the largest ever campaign outside of any election cycle.”