By Mark Perryman

After the votes have been counted, I’m not at all sorry to be forced into a change of plan for the previously announced Lewes Constituency Labour Party event. Mapping the Vote has become Mapping the Hope !!!

Mapping the Hope, Saturday 13th July, Lewes Town Hall.

Labour’s 2024 General Election victory is nothing short of a landslide.

Overall, this has proved to be a seismic result, a stunning Labour recovery from the 2019 defeat, the total collapse of the Tory vote.

But we also saw also Reform UK’s breakthrough mirroring the rise of the populist right across Europe, a low turnout and with the emergence of an increasingly multi-party system, a Parliament that won’t represent that.

Mapping the Hope on Saturday 13th July just nine days after the landslide will provide a unique opportunity to participate in gathering together expectations, hopes, but fears too, of what happens next …

Two hugely respected experts on voting trends review the General Election result to open the day.

Christabel Cooper, Research Director at the Labour Together think tank

Tim Bale, author of The Tory Party after Brexit: Turmoil and Transformation

Chair Frances Hasler, Chair Lewes CLP

Christabel and Tim’s keynotes will be an unrivalled insight into the politics behind the vote. Q&As with each give all participants the opportunity to quiz their analysis.

Chairs Gill Short and Pho Kypri, Lewes Labour events facilitators.

The afternoon is then divided into three parallel 90-minute small group discussions, each with a single speaker opening for 30mins to enable the maximum participation.

Emma Burnell, Founder of the political communications consultancy Political Human explores the meaning behind the means with which Labour communicated its twin messages ‘Change’ and ‘Stability’

Chair Ivor Gaber, Co-author Culture Wars: The Media and the British Left

Joe Mulhall, Research Director at Hope not Hate and author of Drums in the Distance: Journeys into the Global Far Right reviews the Reform UK campaign and what its breakthrough means for the future of the populist right.

Chair Joe Moughrabi Secretary Lewes CLP BAME Branch.

Phil Burton-Cartledge author of The Party’s Over: The Rise and Fall of the Conservatives from Thatcher to Sunak pioneered a theory of long-term Tory decline. Phil will offer his post-election analysis of the Tories’ 2024 meltdown, their post-election options and what these might mean for Labour.

Chair Paul Ewart, writer on Mark Fisher and critical theory.

Plus: join documentary-maker Benetta Adamson to record your ‘Tales from the 2024 General Election campaign trail’ which with Benetta’s expert help we’ll be producing as a short film. ‘Lights, cameras, activism!’

To close we review the General Election campaign via a roundtable including

Peter Lamb, Labour’s newly elected MP for Crawley.

Polly Toynbee, Guardian columnist and co-author the new book The Only Way is Up : How to Take Britain from Austerity to Prosperity.

Simon Weller, ASLEF Assistant General Secretary and member TUC General Council.

Chair Mark Perrymac,  Lewes Labour events organiser.

With our Lewes Labour pop-up bookshop, Keir Hardie Café and afters at the Lewes Arms.

Saturday 13th July 10am to 5.15pm, Lewes Town Hall. All welcome, our only entry qualification an open mind.

LAST REMAINING TICKETS! Book as soon as possible and secure your place: this event will sell out.

Tickets from https://www.eventbrite.com/…/mapping-the-hope-a-day-of…

Presented by Lewes Constituency Labour Party in association with ASLEF the train drivers’ union.

 Mark Perryman organises events for Lewes CLP. His latest book Corbynism from Below is available here