208 Campaign It! `The second thing was a residential training weekend a few weeks later, run by the London regional Labour Party in a Margate hotel. Activists from all over London attended, including some people who worked full time as constituency organizers. I didn't know before then that you could be paid to work for the Labour Party at a local level. The direction of my campaigning career was now set. I was going to become a full-time, paid constituency agent. `Most importantly, at the Margate weekend I met Margaret McDonagh, one of the London Labour Party staff members, who became a great friend. Back then she was clearly someone that I had to learn from. And she still is. It was obvious to me that she wanted to improve the ways in which Labour campaigned and communi- cated. She understood, too, that successful campaigns needed money behind them. Margaret was driven, determined to succeed and was going to let nothing get in the way of her cause to make Labour in London fit for purpose. `That weekend I was introduced to campaigning ideas, techniques and concepts that I was determined to apply back in Islington. I had an open mind and was willing to learn. I always wanted to find ways of doing things better. I wasn't scared of new approaches. In fact I welcomed them. I always have. `My involvement in the local Labour Party grew during 1989. There were plans, promoted by Margaret McDonagh and supported by the MP Chris Smith and the local party lay officers, to establish a paid constituency agent role in Islington South and Finsbury constituency. I was determined to make the job mine and was success-