A quote I found earlier this year sums up how we should move on from 7th May 2015:

“I don’t lose. I win, or I learn.”

When I was asked to speak at a couple of local party events last year, I decided to share what I’ve learnt since reflecting (a lot!) on the General Election result and the by-election for Tower Hamlets Mayor my team and I fought immediately afterwards.

Be proud to be a Lib Dem, we are the cockroaches of the British political system

On the 8th May this party was effectively at a crossroads. It would have been all too easy to give up, to fade away and decide the battle was lost. Instead, 20,000 people joined our party and we decided that we would fightback — spawning the #libdemfightback movement.

Why is this important? Because for me, on reflection, I don’t think you’d see a #greenfightback or a #ukipfightback. In fact both of these parties, having seen their vote share falling in a number of local contests since May, appear to have gone rather quiet. The #labourfightback that could have been driven by the Corbyn election, has instead divided the party to the point it may well fracture before the end of the year.

Our party looked a catastrophic election result squarely in the eye, united, and went straight back out there to fight for what we believe in. I am so proud to be part of a party that, like cockroaches after nuclear fallout, refused to die because it knew everything it stands for is worth the fight.

Be Apple, not Blackberry

Blackberry create phones with some of the best technical specifications out there, yet their market share continues to dwindle. Apple on the other hand are globally dominating brand that has fundamentally changed the world it operates in. Yet back in the early 90s Apple was bankrupt and struggling to make any gain in its markets.

The Apple analogy resonates with me about Lib Dems for three reasons. Firstly, the Apple/Blackberry view reminds of us and the other parties in terms of policy. At the moment we are Blackberry — easily the most effective, most detailed, most affordable policies on the block — but wrapped up in poor packaging/messaging. My point above on language addresses a lot of this but we need to think about this from top to bottom — is our literature impactful enough? Do we use our entire Parliamentary (including the Lords) team effectively? Is our Internet and social media presence engaging? Our policies are great, and whilst there are some areas for improvement I believe that we need to focus on messaging and how we get those policies across, rather than writing an entirely new manifesto.

Second, Apple constantly tests and innovates. It checks what is working; discards what isn’t; keeps what does and allows room to try out new ideas. I want us to take lessons from this, from testing messaging online before committing it to print to testing high quality vs low quality printing in different areas to see if impacts response rates. These insights will help us build a picture of what is working for us, and whether it works across all demographics and voter groups.

Third, Apple would never tell you to buy their phones but not their tablets. Yet as Lib Dems we can often get caught up with worries about people splitting their vote when confronted with a number of ballot papers. Personally I think we do ourselves a disservice and spent an inordinate amount of time worrying about this. We should be bold and telling everyone to vote Liberal Democrat/look for the bird on every single ballot paper they see. Because we believe in our policies, and in ourselves — that we are the best people to govern at every level.

Use words to open doors, not build walls

Now we get into some of the more practical lessons! This party is brilliant at policy — it’s one of the things that brought me to the family. We are all able to contribute to policy making, which means we can be particularly attached to what we produce. And that means we can create problems for ourselves. Our pride in our policy, and our party demographic which means we tend to be middle class and academic (I include myself in this bucket) means we tend to communicate in ways and with language that build walls and stop people engaging with us. If you put most pieces of Liberal Democrat literature through a readability scorer, you’ll find that it’s good enough to be accepted for the Financial Times.

Many people working in marketing and advertising will tell you that you need to aim for the level of a Sun reader. We need to use language that allows people to engage with and understand our policies. Language that ‘gets them in their gut’ as a certain MP from Westmorland would say.

Campaigning is a lot like exercise — It’s better to do small amounts on a consistent basis than dive in and attempt to run a marathon

If we want to win in 2020 and all the elections (and referenda!) before that then we have to be out campaigning now. Regular, consistent contact with voters made the difference for us before and it will make the difference for us again. If all of us committed just an hour a week this year to doing something for the party, whether it’s doorstep campaigning; blogging; or even persuading a colleague or friend to at least consider voting Lib Dem, then that would be over 3 million hours of campaign time. (Or 130,000 days, whichever way you prefer to think about it.)

It’s time to stop canvassing

I imagine a lot of you have gasped or perhaps sworn at the screen having read that. Bear with me. I think we have become too transactional in our campaigns with voters. The focus on getting voter ID means we’re missing out on getting to know our voters. We need to move from this transaction approach to building relationships with voters. That means taking the time on doorsteps; social media and every other channel to talk to people and genuinely listen to their concerns.

I also think we should drop the term canvassing because it tends to strike terror into the heart of many a volunteer. I was a party member for about 2 years before I was brave enough to do it. Inviting people to come and chat to some voters and find out what they think, rather than staunchly defend policy and work out who they’re voting for seems to me a more appealing offer.

Everyone loves a believer

The first time I did this as a talk this lesson had ‘winner’ rather than ‘believer’, as I thought it was us coming across as thinking we couldn’t win that had harmed us during the election. Having thought about this a bit more, I decided that actually our problem was that we came across as not believing in ourselves — in the fact that our policies were (and still are) best for the country and that we would build a better Britain if elected.

We need to believe this again. I’ll be abundantly clear with anyone that will listen — my end goal is a Parliamentary majority; Lib Dems running the UK’s major cities (including London; Manchester; and Birmingham) and a majority of councils. We should be in that position because we have the best policies for people in this country and we’re the best people to run all branches of Government. I got into politics to change people’s lives and change the world — the only way we’ll do that is by getting elected at every level possible.

I’m not going to pretend that this will be easy, but neither were the Moon Landings; launching the iPhone or creating a driverless car. Yet people made all of those things happen because of their unfaltering belief not just that it could be done, but that it was worth it.

It is essential to win for everyone, even if they don’t vote for you

7th May 2015 was a brutal night that will forever be remembered in our history. For me there have been far worse events since:

The attempt to cut tax credits and plunge thousands of families into crippling poverty

Ravaging of measures to tackle climate change that has put our future at risk

A pathetic response from the Government to a refugee crisis that all about PR and nothing about saving lives

The end of an Opposition in the Commons as Labour concentrates on tearing itself apart rather than standing up for the people who need them most

It is our duty now to get out there, campaign and win. There are people truly suffering not only due to the Government’s action but also Labour’s inaction and their complete lack of capability in running local Government. In the East End we have Labour councils happy to sit with over 10,000 people on a housing waiting list yet roll over when any developer claims they can’t possibly build the social or affordable housing needed to give people a home.

So think about that one a hour a week, and this year make a difference to the people that need us the most.