This Saturday sees the first National Action Day of the year. Under normal circumstances, we’d be out delivering tonnes of leaflets and knocking on doors, talking to voters.
We can’t do that at the moment, so the plan is that we phone as many voters as possible.
There are events taking place all over the country.
During the leadership election, both campaigns worked out that if you get a bunch of people together in a Zoom room, have a bit of a chat, and a briefing session, put ourselves on mute, sign into Connect and start phoning together. Then, if anyone has any questions, or have a funny story to tell, they can come into the chat and and interact with others.
It’s much better fun than you think it is going to be. I was a bit sceptical at first because I was worried I’d be caught out picking my nose or something if I had my camera on while I was phoning, but so far I’ve managed to avoid any sort of indelicacy. Or at least, no photos have emerged of any such thing.
People are really pleased to speak to us as well. They really appreciate the call, particularly in places where we have a strong record of action. Last night I got a whole tonne of casework, a new deliverer and loads of people saying they were voting for him. If you’ve never done this before, put any questions you have in the comments and I’m sure that the experienced canvassers who read this will answer them.
I’ll be hosting a 5 hour session for Alex Cole-Hamilton in Edinburgh Western. If you want to join in, you’d be more than welcome to join us, wherever you are from. The thing is that you don’t (unless you’re me) have to be there for the whole 5 hours. You can do ten calls, go and watch Ru Paul’s Drag Race (as many of us do on a Saturday morning), come back for another half hour, have your lunch – you get the picture.
You can sign up to any of the Scottish events here and everywhere else here
This is an ideal opportunity to give phone canvassing a go if you have never done it before – or even if you have and don’t like it. It’s much more fun these days.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings