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Labour leaders have invited agencies to bid for the party’s general

election account this week and will hold a pitch next month.

Although Labour officials may approach some agencies, including St

Luke’s, they want interested shops to send in ground-breaking ideas for

the campaign and to ’rebrand’ the party.

Phil Murphy, Labour’s assistant general secretary, said: ’We are looking

for some really bright, sparky new ideas from an agency with a feel for

politics.

’People should not sit by the telephone; they should make themselves

known to us.’

Labour will interview a ’long list’ of about 12 agencies before

finalising a shortlist of four shops.

On Tuesday, Labour’s ruling national executive committee decided to

appoint a full-service agency and rejected the alternative option of

recreating a team of volunteers from the ad industry.

The move follows BMP DDB’s decision to stand down from its position as

Labour’s agency. The decision means Chris Powell, the BMP chairman, is

unlikely to be involved in the party’s advertising. Although Labour

bosses were disappointed with some of BMP’s 1997 election work, they

retain a high regard for Powell.