What a great story. I worked for Excalibur Technologies at the time, who were the suppliers of the software and remember it as if it was yesterday. I was discussing this with a group of colleagues today and we all agreed that of the hundreds of search projects that we have been involved in since, this is probably our favourite. I can still remember the delegation comprising members of the New Stateman who visited our offices in Windsor in the summer of 1996, although wasn’t until it was leaked to the press that we knew the actual user was the Labour Party at which point Smith Square were onto us and we were ‘summoned’ to a meeting by Brian Mawhinney who wanted to know all about the software, why it was so special and most importantly what the Tory party had to do in order to catch up. It was a wonderful advert for modern technology and New Labour and almost 30 years on is one of the best examples of how search technology can be applied to good effect.
Thanks for the kind words and for the extra detail. I had no idea Brian Mawhinney personally engaged at any point. I thought he kept himself one step removed and channelled everything through Danny Finklestein. I also understood, although I never got authoritative confirmation of this, with the huge amount of money they had at their disposal, in effect the Tories tried to create a network of Excaliburs with a terminal in each of their regional offices connected to a core system. Since they had left it too late it all came to nought. I don't recall visiting any offices in Windsor but I met with people from Excalibur HQ while in Washington DC and, later, I also went to the global HQ in California. The day before arriving at HQ the CEO rang me to say if I turned up in a suit "that wouldn't be a problem" but if I did I "would probably be the only person within fifty miles wearing one". I didn't wear a suit.
I knew Bob Mullholland well and met him many times over the years. He even went to speak at my son's school in Tufnell Park when they were studying the Vietnam War. I do not recall ever discussing Excalibur with Bob either before or after the 1997 General Election. All of my contacts with the US Democrats were with the DNC in Washington. Which only goes to show you shouldn't believe everything you read in the newspapers, even The Guardian! I know all sorts of lurid allegations were made about Excalibur but we never tried to hide what Excalibur could do. Newspapers reported on it!I Excalibur was established as a stand alone system not connected to the Party's main network so it definitely did not have access to membership details. Of course if individual members, particularly MPs, MEPs, Councillors or other public figures made speeches or wrote articles that appeared in the public domain then they could have ended up in Excalibur. I hope they did, but that would have been true for members of any and every political party or organization then operating in the public domain. In that sense to say Excalibur was "turned" on any Labour Party members is entirely fanciful. I know everyone loves a conspiracy but to the best of my knowledge Excalibur was never part of one.
Thanks for your reply, John. If Excalibur was fed news articles and public information, can you be sure it was never fed, for example, minutes from a CLP meeting?
No. I cannot be sure that never happened but for it to happen a paper copy of the minutes would have to have been handed to someone who had access to Excalibur's scanners and knew how to operate the system. There was only a small number of people who fitted that description. I am pretty sure it never happened before the 97 General Election and I would be surprised if it happened afterwards.
The author of the Guardian letter I linked above claims that more detail is provided in Derick Draper’s Blair’s 100 Days book. I’ll let you know if anything of note pops up.
Excalibur was a key part of Labour's political attack machine so there is no doubt it was used to help defeat critics if they were active in the public domain.
What a great story. I worked for Excalibur Technologies at the time, who were the suppliers of the software and remember it as if it was yesterday. I was discussing this with a group of colleagues today and we all agreed that of the hundreds of search projects that we have been involved in since, this is probably our favourite. I can still remember the delegation comprising members of the New Stateman who visited our offices in Windsor in the summer of 1996, although wasn’t until it was leaked to the press that we knew the actual user was the Labour Party at which point Smith Square were onto us and we were ‘summoned’ to a meeting by Brian Mawhinney who wanted to know all about the software, why it was so special and most importantly what the Tory party had to do in order to catch up. It was a wonderful advert for modern technology and New Labour and almost 30 years on is one of the best examples of how search technology can be applied to good effect.
Thanks for the kind words and for the extra detail. I had no idea Brian Mawhinney personally engaged at any point. I thought he kept himself one step removed and channelled everything through Danny Finklestein. I also understood, although I never got authoritative confirmation of this, with the huge amount of money they had at their disposal, in effect the Tories tried to create a network of Excaliburs with a terminal in each of their regional offices connected to a core system. Since they had left it too late it all came to nought. I don't recall visiting any offices in Windsor but I met with people from Excalibur HQ while in Washington DC and, later, I also went to the global HQ in California. The day before arriving at HQ the CEO rang me to say if I turned up in a suit "that wouldn't be a problem" but if I did I "would probably be the only person within fifty miles wearing one". I didn't wear a suit.
Absolutely Fascinating article. Thanks for sharing your knowledge! At some point it appears the machine was turned upon party members… interesting letter here date June 2001. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/may/31/election2001.uk5?
I knew Bob Mullholland well and met him many times over the years. He even went to speak at my son's school in Tufnell Park when they were studying the Vietnam War. I do not recall ever discussing Excalibur with Bob either before or after the 1997 General Election. All of my contacts with the US Democrats were with the DNC in Washington. Which only goes to show you shouldn't believe everything you read in the newspapers, even The Guardian! I know all sorts of lurid allegations were made about Excalibur but we never tried to hide what Excalibur could do. Newspapers reported on it!I Excalibur was established as a stand alone system not connected to the Party's main network so it definitely did not have access to membership details. Of course if individual members, particularly MPs, MEPs, Councillors or other public figures made speeches or wrote articles that appeared in the public domain then they could have ended up in Excalibur. I hope they did, but that would have been true for members of any and every political party or organization then operating in the public domain. In that sense to say Excalibur was "turned" on any Labour Party members is entirely fanciful. I know everyone loves a conspiracy but to the best of my knowledge Excalibur was never part of one.
Thanks for your reply, John. If Excalibur was fed news articles and public information, can you be sure it was never fed, for example, minutes from a CLP meeting?
No. I cannot be sure that never happened but for it to happen a paper copy of the minutes would have to have been handed to someone who had access to Excalibur's scanners and knew how to operate the system. There was only a small number of people who fitted that description. I am pretty sure it never happened before the 97 General Election and I would be surprised if it happened afterwards.
The author of the Guardian letter I linked above claims that more detail is provided in Derick Draper’s Blair’s 100 Days book. I’ll let you know if anything of note pops up.
Excalibur was a key part of Labour's political attack machine so there is no doubt it was used to help defeat critics if they were active in the public domain.
I’m souring a copy of the original S.times article mentioned in Derek Draper’s chapter on Excalibur so will drop you a copy if you’re interested.