Senior Labour figures jet to US to share marketing campaign ideas with Kamala Harris crew
Senior Labour Party figures will head to the US to see Kamala Harris officially named the Democratic candidate for President this week – and to share strategy tips with her campaign team.
Jonathan Ashworth, the former MP who now leads Labour Together, a think tank with close links to Keir Starmer’s inner circle and David Evans, the party’s General Secretary, will lead a delegation of senior party officials to the Democratic National Congress in Chicago tomorrow.
They’ll stay in the windy city for a week to compare notes with US campaign strategists.
“Like in the UK, migration will be a key battleground policy in the campaign as the Republicans go on the attack,” Mr Ashworth told the Sunday Mirror.
“And the Biden/Harris administration has put a lot of investment in their green agenda – we want to learn how that features in their campaigning.”
He added: “It’s my job to think through how Labour win a historic second term at the next general election. That’s why I want to learn from campaigns across the world and will be travelling regularly meeting our sister parties fighting elections over the coming years.”
No10 has stressed that Keir Starmer will work with whoever wins the next US election, to take place on November 5.
But many within the party will have breathed a sigh of relief when Ms Harris overtook Donald Trump in the polls this week.
“Keir Starmer will work with whoever the American People choose to put in the White House. The Special Relationship is a rock solid relationship,” Mr Ashworth said.
“It’s not for me to make predictions, let’s see what happens. But the transition from Joe Biden to Kamala Harris has really shaken up the race.”
Mr Ashworth added that one of his first jobs as an aide to Gordon Brown was to stay up overnight to watch speeches from the Democratic National Convention in 2004.
He said: “I remember watching this speech from a very impressive senator from Illinois, called Barack Obama.
“I said to Gordon, ‘we should keep an eye on this guy’.”
