Election campaign in the UK - this has long been a tough video contest. One of the movies that the various sides are currently firing on social networks goes like this: A slick suit-bearer and a woman in a blazer happily explain why people prefer not to vote. A high turnout pity the Tories. "We in the Conservative Party do not want your vote," says the woman. More than 1.2 million times the video was clicked on Facebook.
Of course, there are no real Tories in it. It is rather an ironic corruption of the ruling party of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Funny shots with a serious message seem to be particularly successful. And the Grand Masters in Britain's politics have long been one of the most powerful groups outside Parliament: Momentum.
The left grassroots movement is based in an office in northern London. From there, more than 50 permanent employees are working on their big goal, which they narrowly missed in 2017: they want to make Jeremy Corbyn the new prime minister.
Oli Scarff / AFP
Labo boss Jeremy Corbyn with followers in northern English Renishaw
They are putting more energy into a digital offensive than ever before. Videos and ads on social networks are just one piece of it. Momentum has launched new websites that show students far from home in which constituencies their votes are most needed. And through other portals, they coordinate their supporters locally. Because momentum is above all one thing: a mass movement.
Founded in 2015 by Corbyn supporters
The organization now has more than 40,000 members - even though it is closely linked to Labor but not a separate party. And although there has been momentum for just over four years.
A group of Altlinker and activists had surprisingly worn the former backbencher Jeremy Corbyn 2015 to the top of the Labor. Then they looked for an opportunity to institutionalize their forces in a sustainable way - to secure Corbyn's power and to lead Labor back on a tight leftwing course after years of economic middle-class politics. They founded momentum.
The boss of the group is still Jon Lansman, one of the most influential Strippenzieher in British politics. In the early 1980s, Lansman had supported the Labor Left Tony Benn. Later, the left wing lost importance - and with it Lansman. With Corbyn he saw his new chance come - and took advantage of it.
Daniel Leal-Olivas / AFP
Left Wing activist Jon Lansman
Lansman sits today in the party executive. Over the past few years, he was responsible for a veritable wave of new young leftists joining the Labor party. He recently demonstrated his power at the Labor Party Congress in Brighton. There he launched an attempt to push the moderate Tom Watson from his post as Vice Labourchef. Lansman did not get it right first. Watson threw it anyway. The pressure had become too big.
Crucial role in the election campaign
It's people like Lansman who have earned Momentum's reputation as a left-wing extremist troop infiltrated by Labor. The movement officially advocates a "radical transformation" in Britain for redistribution and nationalization.
One thing is clear: Without them, a Labor election campaign would be hard to imagine. In the 2017 elections, the Momentum activists flooded virtually diverse constituencies, moving from door to door, dealing with doubtful voters. In the end, Corbyn managed a catch-up hunt that was hardly considered possible within six weeks. Labor climbed until the election of 27 to over 40 percent of the vote.
Momentum wants to develop a similar dynamic again. And that would be sorely needed for Labor. In the polls, the party is currently well over 30 percent - far behind Johnson's Tories, which hold above the 40 percent mark.
Members flock to embattled constituencies
For the turnaround to succeed, Momentum wants to proceed even more professional this time. The organization, which claims to be funding mainly through its members, has formulated a "plan for winning". The weeks leading up to the election are "the most important of our lives," they say. Either you get "socialism with Jeremy Corbyn or disaster capitalism with Boris Johnson".
The group strongly urges its supporters to spend several days in the election campaign to help in the constituencies. "Labor Legends" is the name of the program. More than a thousand people have agreed to that. They are distributed centrally in those areas where things are particularly tight. In 2017 alone eleven constituencies with less than a hundred votes difference were won.
Support is provided to the leftists from the USA. Followers of Bernie Sanders, who wants to compete for the Democrats against Donald Trump, give the Momentum activists in telephone courses tips for difficult doorstep calls - and thus for the large attack on the previous choice favorites: on Boris Johnson.