The Labour leadership contender David Miliband has published a six-page guide for supporters on how to throw a house party, which includes such pearls of wisdom as “Get the nibbles in”, “Decide on the people you want to invite” and “Invite them”.
The guide, part of an attempt to emulate Barack Obama’s grass-roots campaign strategy of getting supporters to hold “house meetings” that broaden the candidate’s appeal, also includes a suggested timetable for the evening. Hosts are advised to return home from work at 5.30 and “give the place a quick vacuum”. Guests will start arriving at 7pm, at which point you must take their coats and “more importantly, get them to fill in the sign-in sheet”.
After two whole hours of sex, drugs and nibbles — and perhaps even a screening of this video address by David Miliband himself — the party should end at 9pm sharp. “Finish the meeting with a thank you for the commitments people have made,” the guide says. (And make sure nobody has passed out in the cupboard under the stairs, no doubt.)
In response to criticism that the guide was “patronising”, a spokeswoman for the Mililband campaign told BBC News: “If you want to be leader you need to know how to organise a party . . . It’s not a diktat. It’s light-hearted. You can tell from the tone of it.”
Reports cannot be confirmed that David’s brother and fellow leadership contender, Ed, has hired the rock musician Andrew WK — aka “THE KING OF PARTYING” — to advise on his own house meeting strategy. Andrew WK’s “party tips”, which he issues to his followers on Twitter, include the following:
“Life isn’t about waiting for the rain to pass. It’s about partying hard in the rain and getting wet!”
“Sometimes the best things in life aren’t free. GO TO A FASTFOOD RESTAURANT TODAY!”
“Ponder the fact that if your parents hadn’t partied, you wouldn’t exist.”
“Take a giant sea turtle, and gently remove its shell. Then fill the shell with chips and dip!”
And, most importantly:
“Always remember to pleasure yourself.”
Grass-roots activists, take note.
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