Smartphone M.app will alert Jeremy Corbyn supporters to timing of key votes and tell them when events are filling up

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Momentum is to launch a Labour conference smartphone app, which will alert leftwing delegates to the timing of key votes on the conference floor, as well as send real-time information about events and rallies.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Momentum app.

The Jeremy Corbyn-supporting group intends to use use M.app to coordinate leftwing conference delegates to vote for the party reforms that the group has long pushed for, including more seats for grassroots members on the party’s ruling national executive committee.

A series of changes backed by the party’s pro-Corbyn wing were agreed by the NEC on Tuesday and are set to be put to a vote at the party’s conference in Brighton, which begins on Sunday 24 September.

Delegates will able to sign up to alerts sent by the app to their phone to ensure they do not miss key decisions and be informed how the grassroots group believes leftwing members should vote.

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The creators of M.app also intend it to be used to organise local campaigning as well as getting members to key local Labour party meetings, as a way of consolidating the grassroots group’s influence in the party and building on its success in the June election campaign.

A recent poll found an overwhelming majority of grassroots delegates attending the Labour conference are Corbyn supporters who back reforms to democratise the party, according to data compiled by Momentum.

'If Caffè Nero has an app, political organising should have an app' Momentum spokesman

The results of the survey appeared to show a significant shift in the composition of delegates since last year, when an extensive Guardian survey showed many constituency Labour parties were run by veteran activists most closely aligned with the party’s centrist wing.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Venues for the World Transformed.

Organisers said the M.app was the logical next step from tools used in the June election, including mynearestmarginal.com, which gave users information to campaign in their closest marginal seats and detailed information of forthcoming canvassing and street stalls.

The tool had more than 100,000 unique users over the course of the campaign, more than four times Momentum’s membership.

“This is the next stage of organising,” a Momentum spokesman said. “If Caffè Nero has an app, political organising should have an app. Over the long term, the app will be repurposed to complement Momentum’s on-the-ground organising in key marginals across the country.”

M.app will also be used for Momentum’s fringe festival The World Transformed, which spans nine venues over the course of the four-day conference, giving real-time information about venue capacity to inform audiences when popular events are full.

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Corbyn is expected to attend the event, as are shadow cabinet ministers John McDonnell, Diane Abbott and Jonathan Ashworth, as well as former Labour leader Ed Miliband and TV presenter and author Russell Brand.

The festival will also act as a digital training centre for Momentum activists, with sessions run on viral video-making, social media, and a three-day “hackathon” where experts will build tools for grassroots activists.