Earlier this month I highlighted how election posters in Australia, and other countries, feature close up head shots of candidates in a way that is almost completely unknown in the UK.
Large head and shoulders photographs did, however, previously feature heavily in our election literature – on leaflets if not posters. For decades many leaflets look like this effort from Sir W Lacon Threlford who was standing for election as a City of London Alderman in 1935:
Pausing for a moment of sympathy for the clerical helpers who had to correct the polling hours on the leaflet, it is notable that his name is not clearly presented anywhere on the front of the leaflet and his signature is not the most readable.
The reverse of the leaflet does give his name, along with a write-up of reasons to vote for him:
The underlying messages here are very similar to those used by candidates now: went to school here, worked here, active in local organisation, active in worthy organisation, impressive career, served country, generous person and so on. The language and phrasing is very different, and no web address, reply slip or bar chart in sight.
So just for a bit of fun, how you would present this record in a modern election campaign?
(Sir W Lacon Threlford’s name lives on, by the way, in the form of the Chartered Institute of Linguists which he formed and which has a regular Threlford Lecture in his memory.)
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18 Comments
We had to hand change a leaflet once for a ward, by hand, correcting a timing – some things never change
(The original had said polls open at 7am and close at 11am – whether that would have got a good early turnout we will never know…)
I know councillors in Durham still putting close approximations of this out!
No bar charts. See, it’s easy if you try.
Wasnt everyone who fought in the First World War awarded three medals (Pip, Squeak and Wilfred for the army if not the navy)? Dreadful bit of spin!
Talking of Australia, I’ve been hoping that someone would provide an intelligible analysisof how the voting went, given that the AV system used could be compared with what would happen here if we win next year’s referendum.
I appreciate voting is compulsory there (as I think it should be here), and there may be a difference in that ALL preferences have to be shewn there (not sure if that’s proposed here), but otherwise I would have thought that people here would find such an analysis helpful. Does anyone have any info?
I’m not sure how representative a City of London election leaflet is. I don’t suppose they have actually changed that much today.
I once took part in a local election in the early 1970s where the Liberal Party used a circular, orange but completely blank window bill (other than an imprint). The idea, so I gathered, was the create a local talking point about the orange blobs that had appeared all around the area before these were replaced by conventional posters a week later. It was thought up by Southend councillor Mike King, an unsung pioneer of Focus-style leaflets as early as 1966, but this was one of his innovations that didn’t catch on.
David – I was walking past one recent election day, and they have not changed very much at all! It felt a lot like a student union campus election.
“ONLY [NAME] CAN WIN HERE!” would surely be the modern equivalent, no matter where and which party?
I think David Worsfold is right – the City of London isn’t really an administrative entity that can be compared with normal local authorities. Having said that, I bet Tony Greaves has got hundreds of similar leaflets from that period.
@tonyhill
I agree with you about Tony Greaves and his vast collection of election leaflets!
Just reminds me that the City of London Corporation still exists as a stain on our Democracy, despite the behaviour of the City in recent years. Perhaps the LibDems in government may want to something about it – if only to distinguish themselves from their Tory masters.
David / Tony: you’re right that the City is often rather different when it comes to elections (e.g. who gets a vote) but one reason I used this leaflet it that it is pretty typical of leaflets from other sorts of election of that time too. More recent City leaflets, by the way, do often look different from this too. Given the popularity of this post, I may return in future to do some other ones with other leaflets (and, in addition, you’d then be able to see that first point illustrated with examples).
Thelink to the Australian leaflet story is broken.
Thanks for mentioning that Nich. Now fixed.
@Mark Pack “So just for a bit of fun, how you would present this record in a modern election campaign?”
Decorated war hero tackles crime
Lacon, awarded an MBE for his bravery in the war, is calling for more bobbies on the beat. In a speech to local businessmen, he said, “It’s a disgrace that hard-working families are afraid to walk the streets in the evenings.”
Why Ethel is backing Lacon
Ethel Fintwhistle (glamorous photograph inserted), of Copthall Avenue, joined the many locals who are backing Lacon Threlford. “I’m sick of a local council that’s completely out of touch,” said the popular innkeeper of the King’s Arms. “I’ve known Lacon for ten years through his work in local charities, and I know he can make a difference.”
Local financial expert, Locon Threlford, calls for action on waste
…
Experienced one of our candidates (Tory background) – issuing an election address about 1995 – not consulted with anyone – started “Gentlemen” ended “Your obedient servant”. I asked who’d written it – he said “I adapted my great uncle’s address (that was in late 1890s – women didn’t have the vote !).
Having just attended a big family event I dug out my great grandfather’s address for Micklegate Ward in York for 1911. Not very different.
Clearly there was no campaigns department input