General election consultation update

Our general election consultation is well underway, with the members taking part having suggested many good ideas.

Now, we’re voting on some of the major themes coming from the discussion. The results are giving a much clearer picture of the ideas we could focus on. Among the most popular suggestions were:

– supporting policies, not parties

– working together to expose lies told in the general election campaign

– campaigning for a register of lobbyists campaigning for a referendum on voting reform in 2010

Now, we’re discussing how we should go about turning these ideas into action. There have been some stimulating suggestions, including creating a ‘mock vote’ website and taking action on the television debates so it’s not just journalists and presenters who get to ask the questions.

There has been considerable debate on media exposure of 38 Degrees: whether we should be lobbying mainstream media or concentrating on Facebook and word of mouth to ‘gain a foothold’. Others think we should ‘reform the system from the inside not the out’, putting forward 38 Degrees members at candidates at elections.