No one has ever joined the Labour Party to change the constitution.
We join because we’re angry about poverty, hunger and inequality and, in that regard, I’m no different from any other member.
So, when reflecting on the very early days of the referendum, my overwhelming memory is one of excitement the referendum was new, it was fresh and I was fascinated by that departure from the established debates. Those early days were great. In building localised campaigns and dealing with the new challenges presented by such unique set of circumstances, there was great fun to be had.
As with many campaigns, the novelty started to wear off a little after the first few months of door knocks in the rain, aggressive voters and complaints about being out all weekend again.
After flying out of the traps, it was difficult to keep that momentum and excitement going for the next 18 months.
Moving into the spring and summer of 2014, that momentum picked up again but that early excitement never really came back, while the Yes campaign saw nothing but gains.
One of the things that I enjoyed and appreciated the most over those last few months was the widespread interest in how to make our country and our city better.
Politics was no longer seen as boring everyone was talking about inherited poverty, about foodbanks and the curse of unemployment in a way that they hadn’t before.
The new ways of addressing those problems that were proposed are one of the great positives of the referendum and were only possible as a consequence of that widespread engagement.
Reflecting on the immediate aftermath of the campaign, I’m naturally drawn to the impact on and the performance of the Labour Party.
Our party simply wasn’t able to respond effectively and the momentum and focus lost afterwards has led to poor results at the ballot box.
Nonetheless, those months of engagement were inspiring and if we can find a way, as a country, to nurture that, my job of engaging voters and winning them back – will remain much easier.
Liam Reid was a campaigner for Better Together