Campaign Lab Podcast

On 5 July we'll see a new Government in Westminster and hundreds of new MPs.

This week in the lead-up to the election, we are joined by Campaign Labber Laura Botsford who is working on the Parliament Workflow Study. 

If 650 MPs offices work like 650 small businesses, what infrastructure and tech can be shared, streamlined or introduced to revolutionise the way constituency casework is done and create democratic transparency? 

Could the Parliament Workflow Study answer a question on many constituents' minds: what does their MP actually does? 

Listen in to find out. 

This week we're chatting to Kate Dommett, Campaign Labber and Professor of Digital Politics, University of Sheffield. 

From Tik Tok to election videos and digital infrastructure, what are the trends this election for political parties? 

And importantly, is politics really embedding digital as part of their campaigns? 

It's true. Every week  Councils produce millions of words in minutes and documentation - the same amount as the Bible.

But where are they? And how can we read them to better understand the decisions that are taken in our local communities? 

That's where the Council Minutes Tracker comes in.  

Campaign Labber James built the Council Minutes Tracker to make intelligible the huge amounts of minutes and documents from local councils on a weekly basis. So more of us can really know what's going on where we live. 

Caitlin from Open Elections read them all so you don't have to.

Why are political parties still leafleting?  
What are the leafleting trends this election? 
And how can candidates reach new communities through them? 

Listen in!

Leaflets leaflets leaflets! 

Activists spend hours ahead of elections posting them through doors. Most people look out for them before they decide who to vote for. 

But what do leaflets mean for the future of campaigning? 

Meet Ricky, who is analysing and categorising thousands of campaign leaflets using AI. 

Ever wished MPs would speak in plain English? Welcome to the our second episode on AI in the lead up to this General Election. 

We're joined by Jethro who has built Whatsard, an AI tool that translates the language of Parliament into everyday speak, so everyone can keep up with what's going on. 

Check out Whatsard here: https://whatsard.web.app/

Want to join our brilliant community collaborating to building the tools, tech and research to win on the issues we care about? 

Come along to a Campaign Lab HackSpace at Newspeak House, East London: https://www.campaignlab.uk/events

Is this the AI election? Can AI actually help humans interact? 

Join us this week as we chat to Campaign Labber, Peyman. Peyman's Doorknocking Training Bot gets people feeling more confident on the doorstep. Practicing difficult conversations and learning through AI. 

Listen in as we delve into the world of AI ahead of this year's General Election. 

You can start using Peyman's Doorknocking Training Bot here: https://doorknocking-bot-peymanity.replit.app/

Want to join our brilliant community collaborating to building the tools, tech and research to win on the issues we care about? Come along to a Campaign Lab HackSpace at Newspeak House, East London: https://www.campaignlab.uk/events