However, CSM must work harder to promote its vision within the Labour Party, wider political debate and the media. Its focus must not be on servicing current members – it must look outwards and recruit new members by promoting its values publicly.
In place of attending costly events to recruit more members, CSM should focus on developing clear policy lines, rooted in its values and objects, and pursue a vigorous advocacy strategy – incorporating parliamentary and media strategies to ensure that these views are heard in the Party and covered in the religious press. This is more likely to yield new members via the website at less cost than attending Party or religious events, and it also serves the existing membership by better promoting CSM’s values and objects. Such a strategy may even persuade ex-members back into membership.
CSM should position itself as an organisation with a strong public profile: promoting in the Labour Party the positive contribution that faith can make to politics; redefining typical ‘Christian issues’ to include social justice, poverty and the environment; aggressively countering the religious right in the media, particularly the religious media; prevent further appropriation of the term ‘social justice’ by the Conservatives; and promote CSM to churches and NGOs who share our values and objects as a conduit to lobbying MPs and ministers.
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Policy should be made as much as possible in the regional groups. Each region should make an in-depth policy which flows from a value and object, while meeting the existing current of policies operating in the institutions of the national economy. We also need the Executive to make policy statements or identify legislative requirements in reply to government consultations. The regional groups should also explain the regional aspect of their policy as example of the practicalities of what is proposed.
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