Party leaders will debate before the election

With the 38 Degrees’ general election consultation in its final phase, one of the ideas that has emerged has already become a campaign. Several people suggested that the TV leadership debates in the run-up to the general election would be a good way for us to get involved: it’s a chance to make sure that ordinary voters get heard, rather than just the usual suspects.

So, we were concerned when we saw the news that politicians and their spin doctors are already squabbling about how to make the debates work. There’s a danger that it will become another opportunity for polished political performances, without putting our would-be leaders on the spot about the issues that we care about.

At first, these debates seemed like a step in the right direction. But there can’t be open debate if the people that count – the voters – are left out. The party leaders and their teams want to control everything about the debates, so that nothing will be able to spoil their image. That means no questions from the audience and no real debate.

Now, we’re taking action to call on the party leaders to let voters choose and ask the majority of questions during the TV debates. We want to quiz the party leaders directly on the issues that matter to us, like climate change, public services and bankers’ bonuses.

Click here to join the campaign for real debates between the party leaders at election time, so we can get the answers we need to decide who to vote for on polling day: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/open-up-election-debates

A couple of people have got in touch with us asking questions about the election consultation. Here are the answers to the most common questions.

How do I get involved? Thousands of 38 Degrees members from every corner of the UK are helping us decide what we should do in the election right now. To get involved just sign up here: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/2010-election and we’ll send you login details within 24 hours.

I’ve lost my login details: Don’t worry. Just go here to get a reminder sent to you very soon http://38degrees.achordus.net/member/getreminder

How do I use Achordus: We’ve prepared a quick slide show to show you around the forum. Watch it below

I’ve got other questions – who should I contact: To contact the moderator team email support@achordus.com

Our general election consultation has got off to a great start. Thousands of us have signed up to discuss what strategy 38 Degrees should adopt in the run up to May 2010, and there’s a clear sense of energy and purpose in the consultation space.

At the moment we’ve got four discussions running in the space: What are the best and worst outcomes of the election? What are the key issues for us to focus on during the election? How much should we do during the general election? What tactics could we try?

I’ve been taking a look at some of the conversations we’ve been having. One of the busiest areas of discussion so far has been electoral reform. Some of us are fed up with a system that puts the power to determine an election result in the hands of a few voters in marginal seats. As one person put it, “electoral reform is a vital first step to having the views of the progressive majority represented.” Another suggested that voter apathy is a problem we should solve: “I think it’s important to treat the election as something that belongs to all of us.”

Another key topic across the discussion areas is the worry that MPs aren’t accountable to their constituents. One participant said that “the parliamentary whip system generally means that they [MPs] end up representing the position of their party leadership, not that of those who they were elected to represent.” Could 38 Degrees take action to change this?

We’ve already had some memorable posts, too. Thanks to Nemone C for inspiring the ‘How much we should do’ discussion by titling their post “the optimism of the action is better than the pessimism of the thought.”

Please join in our discussion. All you need to do is fill in your details on this form: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/2010-election and we’ll send you login details within 24 hours.

Is it important that we work together in the run up to the UK General Election? Over the last few days thousands of us having been answering that question in the 38 Degrees election survey. We’ve just finished calculating up the results. A staggering 95% of us think it’s important that we take action.

So now what should we do? The next step for us is to work together to decide how we, as a movement of 60,000 people, should work together in the run up to the election.

Today we’re launching our election consultation. This is an online space where thousands of us can discuss our plans together. We’ve teamed up with Achordus, who are experts in enabling lots of people to discuss ideas together over the web. They’ve helped us create a unique online space where we can post ideas, read others’ ideas, prioritise options and discuss next steps.

Please go and get involved now. It’s really easy to get into the space. All you need to do is fill in your details on this form: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/2010-election and we’ll send you login details within 24 hours. So please go and get involved now.

Here are the survey results in full:
76.05% said it was “very important for us to work together during the General Election”
18.71% said it was “quite important for us to work together during the General Election”
3.74% were neutral on the idea that we work together during the General Election
0.5% thought it was “not important for us to work together during the General Election”
0.9% thought it was “not at all important for us to work together during the General Election”

Update: 95% of 38 Degrees members voted in an online survey that we should work together during the election. But what should we do? To give all members a chance to get involved we’ve launched an online consultation. To get involved sign up here

38 Degrees isn’t a political party. We don’t support a political party. Our members all have different political views, many of us support different parties, and many of us aren’t that keen on any of them.

But we do care what politicians do. The Westminster government has the power to act, or to fail to act, on issues that matter to us. Who’s in charge and what they do affects all our lives. Most of our people-powered campaigns have pushed the government to do something good, or stop doing something bad.

So where does the looming UK general election fit in? Is it a chance for us to work together as an independent, people-powered voice? Could an independent voice challenging all politicians be just what this election needs? Or is a general election, dominated be big-spend advertising and media spin, the very worst time for us to be trying to have an impact?

And if we do decide we should work together during the election, what should we do? Challenge all parties on their plans? Provide un-biased information about candidates’ records? Remind people to vote? Push candidates to support a specific policy? Maybe Recall? Something else entirely?

I’m glad that 38 Degrees is a member-driven organisation and I don’t have to work out these questions on my own. I’m looking forward to seeing what thousands of people think – please get involved and fill in the survey here: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/election/