Sarah Owen For Hastings and Rye, From Hastings & Rye sarah@sarahowen.org.uk 07931 547878 This document was submitted to the Selection Committee when I applied to become a candidate for this selection. I have made it available so that people can access more detail about me should they wish. It is a long document, so click on the links below to jump to the section you re most interested in. Why are you the best candidate for this seat? What will it take to win? What is your Labour experience? What is your other life experience? What makes me a great campaigner? What are your communication skills? What are your representational and problem-solving skills? What are your teamwork and interpersonal skills? Equalities statement Other skills Why are you the best candidate for this seat? I am best placed to represent Hastings and Rye, not just because I have the right experience, but because I was born and raised here. When I speak about Hastings and Rye, I am not just talking about voters and constituents; these people are my old school friends, family, colleagues, team mates and loved ones. Being born in the town gives me a deep rooted connection and commitment from my first breath in the Buchanan Hospital to my last train home from work. I m hugely proud of my roots and it gives me the commitment to keep fighting for a better future for the people I share this town with. This is important, not just to Labour members but also to the electorate as a whole. Politicians across all parties are the least popular they have ever been and I hope that being a hard working, experienced and local candidate will build that trust again. Growing up in Hollington gave me an appreciation of how difficult it is for hard working families, but also what a fantastic sense of community we have here. I saw my family work hard to afford the best they could for me and my brother, taking on extra jobs when we were young. This strong work ethic has been passed through the generations. I've worked since I was 16, but have also studied. It is this drive and determination that has seen me become an adviser to one of the most respected businessmen in the UK; Lord Sugar. I have the right mix of real life, local and political experience to be the best person to win back Hastings and Rye for Labour for the five following reasons:
A strong understanding of policy with front-line experience I have worked in a range of grassroots campaigning and high level political roles but also have front-line experience of nursing at the Conquest Hospital, emergency planning at the Fire Brigade, local government, community care and retail work. Born, educated and living locally I am local and was born in Hollington, educated at St Pauls Primary School, then The Grove, and onto Sussex University. My roots are solid in Hastings and I have strong connections in the surrounding towns and villages from playing sports to fighting winning elections. A strong background in local campaigns I ve been involved in every election in Hastings and Rye local and parliamentary since joining Labour when I was 20. I ran campaigns on a variety of issues and worked with different organisations from animal rights, equality, environmental and human rights groups. Union involvement with a business focus I m a GMB union rep, working across a number of unions and am the TULO rep for Unison, GMB and Unite on the NHS Campaign for the constituency. I ve had a strong involvement in the Labour movement and as well as working for Lord Sugar I m also assisting with Labour s policy work on business, in particular small business crucial to the economic future of Hastings and the surrounding towns and villages. Energetic, fresh and enthusiastic I will bring a dynamism and dedication to everything involved in being the candidate for Hastings and Rye It is this level of energy and determination that got me up three mountain peaks to raise funds for Hastings Pier, balancing my working week with campaigning and the normal demands of everyday family life, and taking the Labour movement forward at every opportunity. What will it take to win? Winning won't be easy and it will take hard work, both from the candidate and the local party. From my eight years organising campaigns and as an activist in Hastings and Rye, I believe we have the right campaigning ethic to take us forward to win the next General Election. Working as Labour alone will not be enough to win the next General Election. The Labour Party nationally and locally will need the support of sister organisations such as the trade unions, Coop Party and other socialist institutions to provided a united force against the Coalition Government. It s not enough to say we should just target disillusioned Lib Dems. From coorganising the successful election campaign in Rye this May, we saw Lib Dem votes
carry our way, but the Tory vote stayed the same. Anger at unpopular cuts will not be enough to win the next election. We need a clear strategy to win back former labour voters, and give people positive reasons to vote Labour again. We need a strong leadership with solid policies. But these messages have to get out to local residents through the hard work of members and a candidate willing to work on promoting Labour values relentlessly on the doorstep and in the media. Locally, we must engage the supporters that stayed at home at the last election. This means tough discussions on the doorstep and listening to voters that felt let down by Labour, but we need to let them vent their frustrations with us and we need to listen properly before they will trust us again-otherwise they will continue to protest their anger by not voting, or voting for other opposition parties. We must follow up with high quality and targeted communication through direct mails and make full use of new media; using detailed voter identification information from Contact Creator and new media tools such as social networking and email communication. We must produce engaging and fresh campaign literature that sends a clearly positive message about Labour in Hastings and Rye, motivating members and attracting new ones. We should value our smaller towns and villages. When co-organising the Rother elections for Rye branch, we had a message targeted at each village. I worked with members and local candidates to produce mini manifestos for each area. In some cases, due to a shortage of resources this was the only activity carried out, but it was effective; truly speaking to the issues that matter to local people saw our share of the vote increase by 20-35% on the year before. It is this level of new found support that we must build on and our rural campaigns must be given the right amount of time and energy. Elections need strategy, focus and funding. We don't have the resources in terms of staff or finance that we had when we had a Labour MP for the town. The ability to fundraise is hugely important, particularly in against the endless pots of Ashcroft funding for the Tories. I have already put in place steps to raise funds and continue support from unions and the Cooperative Party. I d aim to fund a paid campaign organiser because the last one delivered a cohesive strategy and motivated members, winning back Hastings council. Nationally, campaign organisers were proven to make a huge difference to individual seats at the last general election.. What is your Labour experience? I have always had a focus on campaigning. I worked as a campaign organiser and currently I am political adviser to Lord Sugar. My experience ranges from grassroots campaigning to high level policy making and I ve worked to promote Labour values at every level of government parish, local councils, regional, Europe, the Commons and Lords. I ve campaigned in every election in Hastings and Rye over the past 8 years, I have run election campaigns (from start to polling day most recently coorganising for Rye Branch), been an election agent, motivated activists and coordinated activities with Labour and the trade unions. In the last general election I took three weeks holiday off to spend full time on the campaign to get Michael Foster re-elected. I now provide training on effective campaigning for members of the Labour Party, trade unions and Cooperative Party.
I have experience working with the Party s policy structure and NEC processes. My current role allows for me to work with Shadow Cabinet Ministers and policy team members on developing policies for Labour as part of the in depth policy review. I have had direct input on policies around university admissions, sport and a focussed input on small business policy for the present policy review. While working in Europe, I drafted Written Declarations to the European Parliament on banning the use of certain pesticides, which involved working with leading academics and organisations such as the Soil Association to gather detailed information and data on the effects of harmful pesticides. This resulted in the written declaration being submitted by Labour MEPs with support from social democrat colleagues across Europe. I have provided media opportunities, briefings for journalists and organised visits for prominent Labour MPs. When I did this for the Labour Party Conference in Brighton, it resulted in positive local media coverage, carrying Labour s message in the South East. I have a proven track record of fundraising in the Party; raising thousands of pounds at separate events, with one fundraising event I organised raising over 11,000. I have raised over 1000 for Central Branch so far in the past year. I am currently Membership Secretary for Central Branch and serve on the CLP s campaign committee. What is your other life experience? My working life started with a mixture of minimum wage jobs in local sales, followed by health care in the NHS and later in the Fire Brigade, giving me a great variety of skills and real life experience. My first job was at Dorothy Perkins in Priory Meadow Hastings, followed by working as a Health Care Assistant (Nursing Auxiliary) both in the community and at the Conquest Hospital. while doing my degree and masters. Working for both a private health care company and the NHS gave me firsthand experience of the need to preserve and protect it from privatisation. I performed many duties that both humbled and grounded me in a way that no other job could possibly do. I fed and washed patients, took basic health observations, worked with doctors and nurses, comforted relatives and provided care for people even after they had died. It gave me the skills to deal with sensitive, and emotional situations that I have found to be common place in politics as well as everyday life of the people we seek to represent. After university I worked at the London Fire Brigade in their Emergency Planning Department, starting shortly after the July 05 terror attacks in London. I worked on plans for a variety of emergency situations from flooding to pandemic flu. The nature of the job also took in to account issues of national security and until this month was cleared to a Top Secret level. I was involved in a number of emergency exercises, including airplane crashes and mass decontamination, which were overseen by the Army and senior officers from the emergency services and involved me providing hot and cold debriefs for the police and Army. This gave me experience of working in a high pressured environment with the military, police, fire brigade, health services and local authorities all of which are on the receiving end of some of the harshest cuts from the Coalition Government.
My work with the emergency services and in particular, the NHS has led to my commitment to protect them. In the last year I have led a union backed campaign against the cuts to our local hospital. This involved leading over 60 volunteers in the fight against the NHS reforms, coordinating the NHS campaign for Unite, Unison and the GMB alongside Labour. We spoke to over 1000 residents in a day in Rye and Hastings, and I represented the We Love Our NHS campaign in the local media, putting pressure on the Conservatives and raising public awareness about their plans. I have volunteered, worked with and fundraised for a number of charities. This time last year I climbed the three highest peaks in the UK to raise money for Hastings Pier and have worked with The League Against Cruel Sports in the last General Election in Hastings and Rye to publicise our anti hunting and animal rights record. What makes me a great campaigner? I always fight to win, as we effect most change when we are in power. I give my all to campaigns and when faced with problems that inevitably come up, I deal with them calmly and efficiently. One example of this was when I was printing and folding literature for the Friday Club stuffing session and the folding machine in Hastings broke at midnight I drove myself and the campaign organiser to Brighton with the boxes of letters and we worked until the early hours of the morning to ensure that the campaign literature was on schedule the following day. I now train members from the Labour Party, Coop Party and Trade Unions to spread good practice on campaigning and elections amongst activists. This includes the latest campaigning techniques such as effective social media as well as traditional forms of campaigning; including using media, lobbying government and community campaigning to spread Labour values. I believe in sharing knowledge and best practice with fellow activists, but that there is always more to learn. I frequently attend training sessions and meetings so I can keep up to date with the latest techniques. I am a good leader and am used to leading campaigns and teams. I anticipate potential problems well; for instance during the NHS day of action I realised there was a likelihood that central literature would be limited, so I designed and printed thousands of extra leaflets and petitions ensure that we never ran out of material and the day ran smoothly. What are your communication skills? I have good communication skills developed through regular report writing, media interviews, creating websites, speeches, written/oral briefs and articles as well as on the doorstep. Over years of practical experience I feel comfortable communicating with a wide audience, through a variety of ways. I am used to speaking to large audiences and spoke to the Co-operative conference this year as a delegate and delivered training sessions for 50 people. I use the sensitivity and empathy developed at my time in the Conquest Hospital to effectively communicate with individuals on delicate issues. I further enhanced this skill working with women who experienced domestic violence in my short time volunteering at a women s centre.
My experience with national and local media outlets involved drafting press releases, organising events that could guarantee press attention and negotiating the terms of all interviews or filming beforehand. I have been interviewed by international political magazines, on TV and radio. I understand how the media works and have a good relationship with the local media in the South East built up with them over the last 5 years. I keep up to date with the latest techniques and new ways of communicating. Knocking on doors is the most important communication a candidate can have. I enjoy communicating with voters face-to-face, through direct mail, leaflets, on the phone or online. I have been knocking on doors and speaking to voters in Hastings and Rye for the last 8 years and led canvassing.during the recent Rother local elections I ran telephone canvassing sessions to great effect and I spoke to people that were either difficult to reach or unwilling to speak to canvassers on the doorstep. I believe that when communicating with members it is important not just to lead, but also motivate. I have communicated with Labour members through to branches and GCs. I have hosted informal get-togethers for the newest members, as well as producing welcome packs for Hastings and Rye CLP, which have been well received and provide useful information in a user friendly format. When I have organised fundraising events, such as the Chinese New Year dinner earlier this year at Cosmo, I spoke to the 80+ members in a more informal way, with a sense of humour as well as a sense of purpose in hosting the evening and introducing the guest speaker. I use my interpersonal and negotiation skills to communicate with all levels of politicians, from all parties. This year I have had strong negotiations with the Conservative MP for Hastings and Rye on the NHS reforms and cuts to the Conquest Hospital and in a respectful but forceful manner put across the concerns of the staff and patients on behalf of the workforce. What are your representational and problem solving skills? I have represented others through my work with unions, Labour Party and volunteering for charities. This has meant using my problem solving, negotiating and networking skills to fight for and represent other people s needs. While volunteering in a Women s Centre, I dealt with a number of cases of domestic violence. One particular woman would only speak with me so, I worked with her and arranged counselling on her behalf, legal advice and facilities at the women s refuge on her behalf. I have also represented people on immigration issues to the Home Office, resulting in seeking free legal advice on asylum and passport problems. While at Brighton and Hove Council, I assisted with casework. One example was a young mother living on the Whitehawk estate in a home unfit for habitation. The damp was so bad that her asthmatic son was unable to live in the flat. The Council claimed to have lost her housing documents, and refused to act. Eventually, with the family and local Cllrs I went to the local media to increase public pressure to improve the housing standards in this part of the estate and within days the council were forced into action. What are your teamwork and interpersonal skills Much of my ability to demonstrate authority and work within teams has been expressed through my campaigning, work at the Fire Brigade and experience
running elections, working with the strengths that each individual brought to the team. As a member of the nursing bank at the Conquest Hospital, I had no designated ward or team and instead worked where I was needed most. This meant that I often worked with people that I had never met before and I quickly adapted to be part of their team; I used my interpersonal skills to develop bonds with other staff members quickly to allow for proper and swift communication and when handling patients in teams, I ensured that there was a level of trust to operate safely and efficiently. For ten years I learnt Karate at the West Hill dojo and represented my country by captaining the England Kyokushinkai team. I showed leadership during international competitions and encouraged other team members to cope with the high pressured atmosphere. I also took part in other local sports teams in Hastings including Stoolball and the South Saxons Hockey Team. Equalities statement I am a dedicated campaigner for equality. I am on the executive committee of Chinese for Labour and have been involved in the Cooperative Party s BAME network since it began helping shape its current format. I have represented Labour at a number of Gay Prides across the country and taken part in anti fascist demonstrations. As a member of young Labour s executive committee I was responsible for campaigning for issues regarding disability. I led successful campaigns to keep day centres open, against cuts to disability services and lobbied for disabled access to train stations across the country, particularly at one of the UK s busiest stations; Clapham Junction. Other Skills In addition to the skills I have already outlined, I am capable of the following: Budget management I oversaw a 2 million project to renovate William Morris House as their project manager. This included plans for development of the building and going out to tender for various proposals. As agent for elections I have been legally responsible for ensuring that budget constraints were met and that expenses were accurately recorded to legal requirements, and submitted to the relevant authorities. New Media I design and maintain websites as well as having a significant following on twitter and facebook. Academic record International Relations BA hons and Human Rights MA (University of Sussex)