Yes, Labour is now on an election footing. Do you blame us?

This week, news that the Labour Party was getting itself on an election footing circulated. I mean, we would be foolish not to act, at the moment. Every time I get on the Tube to travel the 30 minutes to work without any phone signal, I am surprised as I alight at Westminster that the entire government hasn’t collapsed in that time. And today it has begun.

What now? Well, there is only one real mechanism for an election at the moment, aside from Liz Truss calling one on herself – which, despite her propensity for U-turns and being generally erratic, does seem quite unlikely. The alternative? The Conservative Party not being able to pass a finance bill, because their MPs will likely vote against it. This is considered to be a vote of no confidence in the government of the day.

At the moment, this too feels unlikely – although I would say that it is getting increasingly less so. After all, there are 40 or so retiring (or safe) Tory MPs who I’m sure can think of no other way of getting out of the calamitous mess that Truss and her now ex-chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, have landed their party and our country in. Hope springs eternal.

Whether it is now – or in 18 months – an election is coming faster than any medium-term plan could possibly come to fruition. Liz Truss says she has this plan, but is yet to tell us what it actually is. It would be foolish of the Labour Party not to now be very seriously preparing both the policy platform and the campaign strategy for a general election. That is essentially what being on an election footing means.

So what does it mean for me and my colleagues? First, there has been an increasing number of invitations to fundraising events around the UK. Between now and Easter, there will be few places in the country that I haven’t visited in order to help local Labour parties raise cash to pay for election campaigning.

The Tories would have you believe that people like me are sipping constantly from the cup of some union baron for funding. I look forward to meeting this imaginary baron, one of these days. In reality, the first form of preparation for most of us will be raising money from ordinary people to pay for our campaigns.

My campaigns are almost exclusively paid for by donations from people across the country. They want one thing: to help in whichever small way that they can to get rid of the Tories. Even in these tough times, lots of people think that is worth a fiver.

Still, I’ll level with you: I have a relatively safe seat. There is a world of difference between the planning that goes into gaining a seat from another party, or fighting a tough marginal. But I have done both of these things. My seat has only been a Labour one for seven years – and my majority was marginal for my first term, so my psyche is stuck in that of a marginal seat candidate.

To us, an election footing means ramping up door-knocking sessions, so there are multiple sessions each week. We start to think about the key messaging – in the last few weeks, we have been thinking about building our volunteer bases again.

This goes for the national picture, too. An election footing here in Westminster means policy discussions and campaigns that we have run in opposition to start to build the basis of a manifesto. Plans and ideas afoot for years will now start to become possibilities. This work is not just turning much-loved ideas into policy, it is also about planning how to present them to the public. Thinking about the arguments that may need to be had; or the process of bringing people with you.

Perhaps Liz Truss might have considered this process. Perhaps she should have remembered that policy cannot just be made up on the hoof – it needs to be paid for. Unintended consequences and reactions must be considered and managed. It is basic stuff – without it, bad things can happen.

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Being on an election footing means that campaigners across the country will be doing the same: looking at literature, planning, thinking about who we need to target, with (often) limited resources. Thinking of how to make those resources bigger.

There is a palpable sense – in the last month or so – of excitement, too. This energy characterises the lead-up to an election. There is a feeling in the air of urgency and anticipation. Deep breaths are taken, nervousness and excitement begin to form around every action.

Elections are back-breaking work for politicians and their activists, but they also prove the pull for most to be involved. The battleground of politics always provides the thrill of the job – not just because we like the fight, but because it involves the public in all its unpredictable, demanding wonder.

Anything can happen in an election campaign – and the very first thing we do when we get on an election footing is some key mental work to prepare ourselves for the unexpected. Deep breaths, everyone. We got this.