Day Seven, Stansted

Angela Rayner, Shadow Housing Secretary and Deputy Leader, helped park a plane. We were all loving being there. At one point it looked to be wrapping up, the next thing we knew Johnny Reynolds, Shadow Business Secretary, was bundling us into a car to be driven down the runway extending the visit another 30 minutes.

I was able to keep more of the light hearted moments that get stripped out of Keir videos. The smaller chain of sign off and direct communication between me and decision makers is a dream.

Workers' Rights Video Views

Twitter: 834,000 Instagram: 38,136

Taking my new easyrig out for a spin. Photo by Garry Jones

A well-timed selfie.

Day Five, Lancing & Barnet

Beth and the boss.

Our taxi driver was switching from Green to Labour, it was a great conversation I would have loved to record - but no dice. We put our trust in the local teams to select who we speak to on visits, they're always good but I craved footage with the authenticity of spontaneity at times.

The speech was in a little village hall. Afterwards I listened in, editing, as Beth Rigby interviewed the boss. A few weeks prior she did her interview prep whilst sat next to me. I summarily passed her questions onto the press team for secret advance sight...

We then went back to London where Keir spoke with more switchers, fundamental to our strategy, including the outgoing head of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. The conversation was quite moving and the video was given to the local candidate and shared in WhatsApp groups with some key people from the Jewish community.

Speech & Switcher Video views

Twitter: 223,000 Facebook: 5,900 Instagram: 58,313 YouTube: 5,600

Photos by Tom Pullen

Day Four, Brighton

A rare slower day for the boss.

On the Saturday I put together a photo montage animation.

It was a bit of a slower day on the Sunday, but we dropped in on Peter Kyle, Shadow Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary, and the Brighton Pavilion candidate. This was largely to counter a Tory attack that Keir was having a day off (after we'd done the same to Rishi the day before). In the pub was a completely star-struck politics student.

Keir was spotted in the street by a couple of groups of young lads as we left who wanted selfies - apart from the one I overheard saying "Who is that?"

Photomontage Video Views

Twitter: 148,000 Facebook: 6,600 lnstagram: 37,366 TikTok: 203,800

Sadly wasn’t allowed to use what was a brilliant interaction.

Photos by Tom Pullen

Day Two, Sydenham & Reading

I managed to scoff a bacon sandwich - Rachel was banned from doing the same!

With less circus around Rachel, I was able to get a few takes of a video setting out her stall on the economy in a greasy spoon frequented by her family for years. I definitely wouldn't have said no to some more set-up time though.

The stump speech which followed was next to a beautiful river and the local members were great. Typically people didn't know who was coming for security reasons, so there was usually great buzz and surprise.

Greasy Spoon & Stump Speech Video Views

Twitter: 637,000 lnstagram: 11,627 YouTube: 188,000

Yuan Yang MP

Day One, Gillingham

I took a lot of care pairing a newly purchased white microphone with Keir's white shirt and it looked great, the AV team then proceeded to put a second mic on him and Angela really sloppily.

I managed to pull together a few assets from what was only 45 minutes. The switcher chat went into adverts and did really well.

I also took two takes feeding KS the lines for his inaugural TikTok. I'd bunched the audience behind him but they felt like spare parts initially, after the first go I asked them to cheer as he finished and it was miles better.

Moments after the second take, it was made clear I wouldn't get a third as Keir was whisked away.

Day One, Switcher chat & First TikTok Video Views

Twitter: 226,000 Facebook: 14,000 lnstagram: 71,570 TikTok: 217,800 YouTube: 2,600

My near-invisible white microphone and the long dangling horror of the AV’s.

Day one enthusiasm manifested in a suit and Labour tie, quickly abandoned.

Photos by Tom Pullen

The Election is called.

Foreword

If you are here hoping to get a scoop or to pinch campaigning secrets - I’m sorry to disappoint. You’ll have to catch me off-the-record for anything more juicy.

Working with Keir was a privilege, he is frighteningly driven and genuinely kind. The difficult decisions of his pragmatic policy and presentational choices, I believe (having worked under the Tories as a civil servant for six years), are just what the Party and country needs. He’s a good man and I trust him to balance progress and polling.

You may have gathered this isn’t going to be an objective account…

Sticking with media convention, I haven’t mentioned any behind-the-scenes Labour staff by name. Some ‘above-the-line’ staff aren’t so lucky.

I wrote these below notes in July ‘24 and I’m uploading them a year later, so the tense may wander all over the place. If I’m around for ‘29 I promise to get my notes down each night.

I’ll wrap up with some reflections (tailored mainly to filmmakers), but until then enjoy the day-to-day of life on the road as a videographer during an election campaign.

 

As the day progressed it became clear the rumours, this time, had legs.

Journalists described not getting the official denials they had previously been given. We found later that Morgan's McSweeney had taken changes in the betting market as confirmation. We'd been on campaign footing for some time, but hit go on buying ad space, finalising launch assets and sorting our first days of campaigning.


I was working on a massive edit for Anneliese Dodds (which ended up never seeing the light of day) when I was called to The Savoy, getting there ahead of Keir I got my camera ready for his launch speech.

I wanted to see him watching the Rishi’s announcement - hoping for an iconic moment. While we waited Keir rehearsed his speech - as the then Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, walked out into the rain - I called Keir through to the television.

He watched in silence.

Launch Speech & Change Video Views

Twitter: 1,335,000 Facebook: 44,300 Instagram: 507,800 YouTube: 494,000

Pre-recording the election launch video, Darlington.

Keir addressing hastily organised activists.

That's me in the corner, about to lose any sense of normal life. Photos by Tom Pullen