How I’ll improve Lib Dem membership

How I’ll improve Lib Dem membership – Lembit Opik

By Lembit Öpik | Wed 29th October 2008 - 6:02 pm

I’ve made a specific manifesto commitment to use my Presidency to measurably increase the membership by 2010. Recruitment is one of my areas of specialist interest across the last 17 years. I made the first three recruitment training videos for the Lib Dems – one of them has even achieved a degree of cult status! I’ve just completed another one and it will be released at the end of the year.

I’ve also travelled the country training individuals in recruitment techniques, based on the famous Five Point Plan which we pioneered and promoted almost two decades ago. It still works today as long as people actually go out and use it. My goal is to achieve a much greater uptake of these tried and tested methods countrywide.

And that’s the third part of my membership strategy – to negotiate specific targets with local branches. Our Party is the right size to do that. I believe it’s much more motivating to work towards a personally owned achievable goal than a general impersonal percentage. I’ll also be out there recruiting with activists. In fact, during this campaign I recruited someone at the North West Lib Dem conference, two people at the Guildford Liberal Youth conference, and 6 people at a Glasgow students Pizza and Politics event, as well as others up and down the country all year round.

I know about membership, I recruit new members – and if you elect me as President I’ll help you do the same!

This is one of a series of three articles about increasing membership by candidates for the Lib Dem party presidency. You can find Lembit Opik’s campaign website here.

6 Comments

James Graham 29th Oct '08 - 7:08pm

Credit where it’s due – this is the best of the three answers.
Mouse 29th Oct '08 - 7:14pm

The best answer, but nothing new to add.

Still, credit to Lembit of being on the right track with his Jammie Oliver style pass it on.

A lot better than Simon I’ll double membership Hughes or barking optimism that if we all recruited one person, membership would double.

It leaves the obvious answer – Clone Lembit and create an army of super recuiters – otherwise he’ll have to make a DVD, pod cast or something a bit more with it than a video.
Paul Harding 29th Oct '08 - 7:47pm

I gather his latest recrutment video is being made into a DVD
Darrell 29th Oct '08 - 7:49pm

I think it is a good answer but do have slight qualms about ‘target setting’ having had some experience of the negative effects it can have while working in sales….
Peter Black 29th Oct '08 - 8:47pm

Although recruitment is important retention is crucial. That is something that a three candidates need to address. We can also measure their individual records in their own local parties and in areas they have responsibility for.
Sesenco 30th Oct '08 - 10:47am

My vote for Lembit is in my bag and I’ll post it at lunchtime (even though he uses a split infinitive in his first paragraph).

Cyril Smith once said that what this party needs is a bit of bloody razzmatazz. Lembit is just the man to give us some.