Peyman’s collection
Managing a local branch of a political party
Curated by Peyman · 9 resources from the library
Running a local branch is mostly a people job: volunteers arrive with energy and opinions, and the branch has to make decisions together, welcome newcomers properly, and keep everyone safe — usually with no staff and no HR department. These are the resources I keep coming back to. They were written for charities, co-ops and community groups, but almost everything here translates directly to branch life.
Decide how you decide
Most branch tension isn’t political — it’s procedural. Agreeing up front which decisions need everyone, which need the committee, and which anyone can just take saves hours of meetings. These three show how volunteer-run groups have made that explicit.
How we make decisions
A RadHR policy from Autonomic co-op setting out a three-tier collective decision-making framework (Small, Medium, Large) for worker co-operatives and horizontal organisations.
A three-tier framework (small / medium / large decisions) that maps neatly onto branch life — social posts vs. campaign priorities vs. constitutional changes.
Decision-making policy & process
RadHR's internal decision-making policy sets out consensus-based principles and tiered processes (mandate, consent, consensus) for a small part-time team and directors.
Useful if your branch leans consensus rather than votes — the mandate and consent tiers stop “everyone must agree on everything” from paralysing you.
Rules for how we work together
A comprehensive operational rulebook for the Nanny Solidarity Network, covering governance, membership, decision-making, pay, and staff policies for a migrant-led worker collective.
A full operational rulebook from a migrant-led worker collective. Long, but a great checklist of the questions a branch constitution usually forgets to answer.
Bringing new members in
A branch that doesn’t induct people loses them by their second meeting. Recruitment and onboarding materials from the voluntary sector work almost unchanged for political volunteers.
Choosing staff, volunteers and trustees
An NCVO guide on embedding safeguarding throughout recruitment of staff, volunteers, and trustees — from role descriptions and interviews to criminal record checks and induction.
Covers the whole journey from role descriptions and interviews through to checks and induction — written for charities, but it maps straight onto filling branch officer roles.
How to recruit new people without reproducing systemic inequality
A RadHR guide from People Support Co-op covering equitable, anti-oppressive recruitment practices for civil society organisations, from planning through to induction.
Worth reading before your next officer election, not just for hiring — the outreach and shortlisting habits transfer directly.
Member volunteer induction process
A RadHR policy setting out the step-by-step induction process for new member volunteers joining the Class Work Project, from initial contact through to ongoing check-ins.
A step-by-step induction checklist from the Class Work Project — swap the organisation names and it’s a branch welcome pack.
Keeping everyone safe
Campaigning brings members into contact with the public, young people and vulnerable adults, so safeguarding isn’t optional — and officers’ duties look very similar across charities and parties.
Getting started with safeguarding
An NCVO introductory guide to safeguarding for charities, covering legal duties, Charity Commission expectations, overseas work, and responding to immediate concerns.
Start here if “safeguarding” is a word your branch has never said out loud.
Safeguarding for trustees
An NCVO guide helping trustees understand their safeguarding responsibilities, including working with a lead trustee and CEO to maintain good practice.
Written for charity trustees, but branch officers carry near-identical responsibilities — read “committee” for “board”.
Getting started with DBS checks
NCVO guide covering how charities and voluntary organisations should approach DBS checks for staff, volunteers, and trustees.
Answers the perennial “do our canvassers and youth officers need a DBS check?” question with actual criteria.