Mervelee,
That optimism? That buoyancy? Those feelings are brought to you by thousands of progressive organisers across the country.

Between them, they’ve helped elect hundreds of Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green councillors. They’ve given us a traffic light Britain.

Each party will claim that these victories are theirs and theirs alone. But local organisers know firsthand that we need all progressives to do well to unstick the glue of First Past the Post.

From Hazlemere to East Hertfordshire, from Stratford to South Gloucestershire, progressives are winning seats and councils by cooperating not competing.

This traffic light squeeze is maximising the efficiency of our anti-Tory vote.

In many of these seats, Compass local groups have been working to build trust and a united front against the Tories.

But there are no guarantees. Local elections expert Professor Michael Thrasher is predicting that Labour will be the largest party after the general election…. but will not have a majority.

That means that tactical voting and campaigning can make a huge difference in securing a vital change of government.

And that’s up to you. Up to us.

Because today we also saw too many progressive tragedies: where we divided, Tories conquered.

From the grassroots, we see this wrong being put right. This work takes many forms – quiet conversations, putting up paper candidates or publicising tactical voting advice. But in too many places, activists are doing this in secret for fear of recriminations from party officials. This is the madness of our tribal politics we must break.

Meanwhile, voters are miles ahead. They’re not asking for a change, they’re making it. We need you to be part of this movement that’s defying the system to deliver progressives into power.

What we’re doing is against the grain – of First Past the Post, of tribal party politics and of short-term competition. But it’s succeeding, because voters can see that the future is about co-operation and alliances.

And Compass members aren’t letting up. At Compass HQ we’ve spent the whole day shouting about the people that made these headlines.

Like Vikki in Stratford, who told us “Under First Past The Post it makes sense to concentrate your resources where you have the best chance of winning. This seems to have been the case here in Stratford.”

Or Graham in Canterbury, celebrating this morning:“Canterbury is not any longer a Tory area. There has been some sensible tactical voting and obviously some paper candidates are doing less campaigning in areas where they can’t win.”

Steve Ringham was proud that “in Runnymede we didn’t stand candidates where either opposition leaders were up for re-election, because we’re all working together to unseat Conservatives. This is the first time since Runnymede was formed in 1974 that it wasn’t led by the Conservatives.“

And Anthea in Berkshire, who this morning was celebrating a success months in the making – “We’ve seen some incredibly promising cross-party working in Bracknell Forest, where Labour and the Liberal Democrats have agreed to stand aside for one another. Nobody involved has publicised it at all, but we’re really pleased to see it and we hope it could set a standard for progressive parties elsewhere in the country. Despite the hostility of national party HQs towards cross-party working, progressive voters and activists in Berkshire are coming together to unseat the Tories.”

Elsewhere, our Oxfordshire group were toasting their triumph. After a lively training event run with Compass staff, they’ve been hitting the streets to spread the word for several weekends running. They celebrated the decisive return of a coalition council today, as voters backed a progressive alliance that had already delivered.

This was a theme of this year’s locals, as we saw the runaway re-election success of progressive coalitions, too many to count: Southend-On-Sea, Colchester, West Oxfordshire, Sheffield, Milton Keynes, North Hertfordshire, Tunbridge Wells, Burnley…

It’s not just about winning together, but governing better together.

This was a test run for the next general election – Compass and its activists passed the test. Now let’s do it at the General Election.

Come and be part of that success.
In determination,

Frances

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