Former No 10 communications boss Alastair Campbell joined a debate with David Lammy MP, US presidential campaigner Ben Brandzel and Fabian author Will Straw asking if the Labour Party can learn lessons from Obama's campaign, at the launch of a new Fabian book. Catch live video from the debate here.

With Labour consistently struggling in the polls, Campbell was one of a panel asking if the Labour Party could use similar strategies to engage the British public.

A self-confessed latecomer to what he terms ‘this online malarkey’, Campbell now Twitters, Facebooks, blogs and video blogs, so much so he now confesses to being digitally obsessed.

He joined speakers from both sides of the Atlantic to debate incorporating these new medias into political campaigns. They re-evaluated how political parties are organised and how they relate to today’s society.

The book has a foreword written by Gordon Brown. David Lammy MP has written one of its ten chapters, as have American politicians who worked on the Obama campaign.

Join the debate on whether the British political system needs to reform; how Labour needs to change; and what lessons from Obama's campaign could apply in Britain on the Fabian blog Next Left and Twitter sites over the next few days. Tweets are being collected using the #tag cwn.

Read chapters from the book on the website created to launch the project, here.

Watch a podcast of the discussion here.

Listen to an audio podcast here.