CASTLE Point Labour activists are joining a national campaign to regain support in areas where its popularity has slumped.

Castle Point is traditionally a Tory seat in Parliament, but Labour candidate Christine Butler was elected in 1997 as part of Tony Blair’s national landslide.

She lost the seat after one term to Tory Bob Spink, who later became independent. At the last election, Rebecca Harris took the seat back for the Conservatives.

Now the Labour Party in Castle Point is joining a campaign called Third Place First. Labour’s Julian Ware-Lane, who was beaten into third place in the year’s general election, said: “I’m backing this initiative and support electoral reform, which would change the way Labour campaigns in Castle Point.

“It would give us a better chance of being elected, which would justify more resources being invested in campaigning here.”

Joe Cooke, former Labour councillor for St George’s ward, in Thundersley, said “I think a Labour candidate could be elected back to parliament in Castle Point. We will need to concentrate on winning back the political middle ground, focusing less on what is right and left wing and more on what’s right and wrong.”

Mr Cooke was part of the Labour administration which held a controlling majority over Castle Point Council from 1995 to 2003.

Its support was undermined when several of its members, including Canvey councillor Dave Blackwell, defected to the Canvey Independent Party.

Under the new campaign, Castle Point activists will join Labour members from other seats across the country where Labour is in third place, to discuss strategies for developing their local party machinery and campaigning with minimal resources.