Category Archives: Campaign Corner

Antony Hook

You should stand for Police & Crime Commissioner

By Antony Hook | Mon 3rd August 2015 - 12:58 pm

 

Next May, the entire United Kingdom will vote. It will be the first national election since the General Election and will be seen as a test of all parties one year into the new parliament.

Police & Crime Commissioner elections will take place in England & Wales, on the same day as devolved elections.

If you care about human rights, as Liberal Democrats do, policing is where human rights come into sharp focus. No other civilian agency in entrusted with powers so affecting liberty and so at risk of political demands based on popular misunderstanding. Policing needs checks and balances from a liberal point of view, and strategy founded on evidence.

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 23 Comments
Michael Kitching

Why Local Parties need to get serious about fundraising

By Michael Kitching | Tue 21st July 2015 - 10:12 am

Piles of money. Photo credit: czbalazs - http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1236662British Politics is changing. Money buys elections (mostly) and there is no doubt we saw that in May. The Conservatives pumped money and resources in to marginal constituencies and backed by their aggressive national messaging, won.

Being a Liberal Democrat usually means the same old story, lots of enthusiastic volunteers at election time and everything on a shoe string budget, with the big money reserved for a few strategic seats.

Continue reading »
9 Comments
Mary Reid

Tales from the campaign

By Mary Reid | Mon 4th May 2015 - 9:05 am

election

 

I spotted these two handwritten notes side by side when I was out delivering last week. In case you can’t see this too clearly on your device, they say:

“I will vote for the party who doesn’t waste paper. Give me a leaflet and you’re off the list ..”

“I am undecided. Keep the leaflets coming …”

Ah – a dilemma indeed.

Continue reading »
Also posted in Humour | 4 Comments
Lord William Wallace

William Wallace writes … Be careful about Canvasser’s Heel

By Lord William Wallace | Mon 23rd March 2015 - 8:30 am

 

I’ve gone down with Canvasser’s Heel.   Well, the doctor called it plantar fasciitis: her first question to me after I had described the symptoms were, ‘Does your job involve a lot of standing and walking?’

The NHS defines it as ‘excessive, constant abnormal pulling and stretching of the fibrous bands that support the arch, causes the heel bone to become inflamed and painful. This constant irritation can sometimes lead to a heel spur (bony growth) forming on the bottom of the heel bone.  The patient usually complains of pain with the first step in the morning, some relief following activity, but the pain returning after extended amounts of time standing or walking.’

I’d thought I’d bruised my heel somehow, and had gone on canvassing (and limping) over several weekends, until it was clearly getting worse rather than better.  The cure starts with icepacks applied, then rest, physiotherapy, walking gently, and wearing well-padded shoes.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 8 Comments
The Voice

Peers visit 1000 constituencies

By The Voice | Tue 17th March 2015 - 10:36 am

IMG_1603Early Friday morning, as others made their way to Liverpool for Conference, I set off to Hereford, following in the footsteps of a large number of my colleagues in the Lords. Our local candidate Lucy Hurds has been hugely successful in getting our Peers out of the House of Lords and onto the streets of Hereford including John Shipley, Jenny Randerson, Nigel Jones, Sally Hamwee, Shirley Williams and Chris Fox. She’s clearly been effective in getting others out too and it was great to see a good number of Lucy’s campaign team out with us and working hard to reclaim the seat for the Lib Dems.

Dick Newby, our Chief Whip, called for 1,000 visits to be made before the election. After many months of hard campaigning this was our 1,000th.

Continue reading »
5 Comments
Baroness Ros Scott

Baroness Ros Scott writes… Campaigning over recess

By Baroness Ros Scott | Tue 24th February 2015 - 8:55 am

Despite what you hear in the press about a “zombie” Parliament, life in Westminster has been pretty busy for the Lib Dem team in the House of Lords. We’ve secured important improvements to the Counter Terrorism legislation, used the Deregulation Bill to reintroduce Sarah Teather’s provisions on retaliatory eviction, introduced measures dealing with revenge porn, and done battle with the Tory dinosaurs seeking to derail Michael Moore’s Bill intended to enshrine the principle that 0.7% of our wealth goes to the poorest overseas countries.

But this last week we, like the Commons, have been in recess, and many of us have been out and about campaigning with colleagues seeking re-election in May. And why wouldn’t we? Not only are we committed to our Party and its success, but many of us have been elected as Councillors or MPs and know how important an extra pair of feet can be! Some of my colleagues fought unsuccessfully for years to be elected to Parliament, and in doing so, laid the groundwork for their successors.

For me, recess means being at home in Suffolk where we are busy not just supporting our neighbours in Colchester, Cambridge, Norwich South and North Norfolk, but defending council seats in all-out District elections. For me, this one is personal, as it was winning Needham Market ward in 1991 which started my political career, and I want to make sure that the hard work of our current team is recognised.

Continue reading »
1 Comment
Kelly-Marie Blundell

On the campaign trail… Guildford

By Kelly-Marie Blundell | Wed 18th February 2015 - 8:41 am

kmb-nickbelfitt2This weekend, I introduced two new, keen politics students to the art of door-to-door canvassing in Guildford.

I wanted to make it clear that most people are pleased to see us on the doorstep, and are polite even if when they’re not supportive. In nine years, I’ve only had two people swear at me. The worst you’ll get is generally polite ‘not interested’.

Continue reading »
14 Comments
Jason Zadrozny

How you can help us make history in Ashfield

By Jason Zadrozny | Mon 9th February 2015 - 4:59 pm

I remember the feeling of despair.  It was the early hours of Friday, 7th May 2010.  Our team had failed to gain Ashfield by 192 votes.  That’s 192 votes out of nearly 50,000.  How annoying is that!  I looked at our exhausted team and vowed to finish the job.  A team who had worked their socks off and given their hearts, souls and just about everything else over an exhausting, yet strangely exhilarating campaign.

Everyone said we couldn’t do it.  I suppose they were right – we didn’t.  Starting the campaign nearly 15,000 behind and in 3rd place it was always going to be tall order.  A 19.5% swing was an incredible achievement though.  It was difficult to see at the time, but this was the moment our job really started…

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 6 Comments
George Kendall

How to help Lib Dems like Vince Cable in the run-up to the election

By George Kendall | Fri 5th December 2014 - 10:36 am

Vince Cable - Some rights reserved by Liberal DemocratsPerhaps you’re a Lib Dem Voice reader, who would love to help get Lib Dems elected next May in the General Election, but you’re not sure how to go about it. Whether you are a member or not, if you’d like to help, this article is for you.

In the coming weeks and months, there will be many action events in key seats throughout the country. For example tomorrow, Saturday 6th December, there will be a big Regional Action day in Vince Cable’s seat of Twickenham.

Continue reading »
34 Comments
James Gurling

Local and European campaign review

By James Gurling | Fri 30th May 2014 - 8:49 am

Fortis Green by-election 2004: volunteers at work stuffing envelopesAs Chair of the Party’s democratically-elected Campaigns & Communications Committee, Nick Clegg has asked me to conduct a review into the Local and European election campaign and result. I will be joined in doing this work for Nick by a small group comprised of Cllr. Abi Bell of Hull City Council, Cllr Ruth Dombey – Leader of Sutton Borough Council, and George Lyon – former MEP for Scotland.

I have spoken to Nick and we have agreed that this review will be a full …

Continue reading »
Also posted in News and Party policy and internal matters | 51 Comments
Keith Aspden

Rebuilding our campaigning base in York

By Keith Aspden | Wed 5th June 2013 - 8:55 am

Image courtesy of freefoto.comYork is a classic example of an English city where the Liberal Democrats developed a strong local base as voters became disillusioned with both the Conservatives and later Labour in the 1990s and 2000s. After two decades of Labour control we won a landslide victory in 2003 and formed the administration on City of York Council for eight years. As elsewhere, in 2011 we took a hammering from the voters, our first electoral test as a party of government.

The unitary authority of York is split into two parliamentary constituencies including the marginal (famously ‘doughnut-shaped’) York Outer, a seat that the Conservatives won with a majority of less than 7% over us at the 2010 general election.

Within months of a disappointing general election result, we rightly anticipated a tough fight in all-up local elections in 2011, especially against the unfavourable national picture. A resurgent Labour Party took eight council seats from us to win overall control, including five seats in York Outer that they won from third place.

Continue reading »
Also posted in News | Tagged | 8 Comments
George Kendall

Ride the wave! Two chances to celebrate…

By George Kendall | Fri 1st March 2013 - 2:22 pm

Want to celebrate the fantastic result in Eastleigh?

Why not join a working celebration at Regional Action Days in either Watford or Lewes, tomorrow, Saturday 2nd March.  There’ll be good company, free food and invigorating campaigning.

Normally, the local teams for these Regional Action Days need at least a few days notice. However, normal promotion hasn’t been possible this time round, so for these events we’d welcome last minute registrations.

But please do register, even if it’s in the early hours of Saturday morning, here for Lewes and herefor Watford.

As far as we can, the teams want to …

Continue reading »
Also posted in News | Tagged and | 1 Comment
Tom Brake

Marginal gains

By Tom Brake | Fri 4th January 2013 - 9:21 am

Silver bullet - some rights reserved by eschipulToo often people come into political campaigning searching for a silver bullet which will revolutionise their candidacy and transform the electorate into ardent fans overnight. It’s the most common mistake of first time candidates. Those of us who have already spent decades stuffing letterboxes know that a quick fix doesn’t exist.

That isn’t to say there aren’t campaign game-changers – the advent of television or how some candidates have harnessed the internet, but in truth they are few and far between. Instead candidates and campaigns

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 2 Comments
Mark Pack

Sometimes to win an argument, you need to adopt your opponent’s point of view

By Mark Pack | Wed 2nd January 2013 - 8:50 am

Wedding bouquetFraming, that is the way in which a choice is presented, is often key to winning political (and indeed non-political) debates. Consider the following two statements, for example:

It’s dreadful that the government is letting private companies access more medical data about people.

It’s great that the government is letting medical researchers access more medical data about diseases.

They are both ways you could describe the current government’s actual policy. Whether the issue is framed as being about private companies or medical researchers and whether it is about personal data or information about diseases …

Continue reading »
Also posted in LDVUSA | Tagged | 7 Comments
Mark Pack

Now here’s a good email to send to local members and supporters

By Mark Pack | Fri 23rd November 2012 - 9:50 am

Top marks Haringey Liberal Democrats for taking up my idea on this (properly formatted version here). Simple, practical and providing people with useful information:

Continue reading »
Also posted in Online politics | Tagged and | Leave a comment
Mark Pack

Not all is quite so new in the world of political messaging and behaviour change

By Mark Pack | Tue 13th November 2012 - 3:05 pm

On my way to windmill spotting in Lincoln recently, I happened across this example of an 19th century election leaflet for the City of Lincoln’s local elections:

It’s a neat example of a point I’ve made before, that what can seem new and exciting in the world of communications often is really long-established ideas in slightly new clothes.

In this case, note two particular features of the message. First, the reference to electors having previously elected Mr Page four times before. In other words, …

Continue reading »
Tagged , , and | 1 Comment
Mark Pack

Romney’s polling day technology meltdown: Orca

By Mark Pack | Mon 12th November 2012 - 11:53 am

The usual post-electoral defeat search for explanations and people to blame has an added edge for the Republicans after Mitt Romney’s defeat earlier this month. Not only did Romney lose, he lost in all the states that were picked as being in serious contention, the Republicans actually lost ground in the Senate (when they had hopes of making gains) and the initial voting analysis shows the Republicans with a big problem: the parts of the electorate that are growing are the parts which vote against them the most heavily.

Continue reading »
Also posted in Online politics | Tagged , , and | 6 Comments
Mark Pack

Campaign Corner: The four groups in good local party membership strategy

By Mark Pack | Mon 22nd October 2012 - 11:50 am

I’ve written before about ways to recruit more party members and related issues such as the need to respond well to people who are interested in joining or helping. Underpinning that latter post is an important point – a good strategy for getting more people involved and helping isn’t just about formal membership of the party.

Pretty nearly all local parties recognise that these days. The idea that the “members newsletter” only goes to paid-up members, as used to be the case, is now a rarity. Instead …

Continue reading »
Tagged | 2 Comments
Mark Pack

What do the academics say? Ashcroft’s campaigning worked

By Mark Pack | Fri 14th September 2012 - 1:52 pm

Welcome to the latest in our occasional series highlighting interesting findings from academic research. Today – the impact of the Ashcroft-funded Conservative key seats campaign in the run-up to the 2010 election.

The latest edition of the Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties (Volume 22, No.3) includes, “Laying the Foundations for Electoral Success: Conservative Pre-Campaign Canvassing before the 2010 UK General Election” by David Cutts, Ron Johnston, Charles Pattie and Justin Fisher:

Continue reading »
Also posted in What do the academics say? | Tagged , , , , and | 5 Comments
Mark Pack

6 things Lib Dem campaigners can learn from Boris Johnson and George Galloway

By Mark Pack | Wed 12th September 2012 - 11:50 am

Boris Johnson has twice won a contest for a directly-elected Mayor. George Galloway has recently won a Parliamentary by-election.

That is why, for all the many reasons Liberal Democrats have for criticising both, smart Liberal Democrats also know that there are lessons to be learnt from their electoral successes.

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 22 Comments
Mark Pack

10 ways to make your local party AGM better

By Mark Pack | Tue 11th September 2012 - 3:25 pm

The nights are getting shorter, the football has started and the first few “x days to Christmas” signs are appearing in shops. Yes, it all  means that the local party AGM season is approaching.

To help local parties get the most out of them, here then is a reminder of the simple factsheet giving 10 tips to lift an AGM from being a boring, business meeting that no-one comes to into an interesting and successful event. Though written in conjunction with London Liberal Democrats, the tips are applicable across the country.

Hope you find it useful – and of course please do share this post (or this pdf) with whoever is involved in organising the AGM in your own local party.

Continue reading »
Also posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged | Leave a comment
Mark Pack

How to write, with the help of Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway and Tim Leunig

By Mark Pack | Mon 3rd September 2012 - 11:50 am

How to speak. That’s a common topic in training for would-be candidates and a frequent chapter in books for would-be campaigners. How to write? Much less so.

That’s an omission I plead guilty to, for 101 Ways To Win An Election has a chapter called “Making speeches” with no accompanying “Writing words”. Implicit in many of the other chapters are ideas that will help you to write effectively. Yet on reflection there should really have been explicit advice too.

Short, sharp writing has always been important for leaflets and news …

Continue reading »
Tagged , , and | 4 Comments
George Kendall

How a deliverer can recruit two deliverers

By George Kendall | Tue 28th August 2012 - 3:49 pm

There are martyrs who will do anything for the Liberal Democrats … except ask for help.

They drive themselves to an early grave delivering thousands of leaflets, canvassing, and organising everything else in their local party.

Nothing scares them … except asking for help.

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 1 Comment
Mark Pack

The sensible campaigner is the campaigner with backups

By Mark Pack | Mon 13th August 2012 - 2:55 pm

The office wall in one of my former jobs had a cartoon with two drunks slumped in an alleyway bemoaning their fate. One was saying to the other, “It all started to go wrong when I realised the backups hadn’t been working…” He at least had been trying to use backups.

Sometimes people fear trusting data to computers, worried that a wrong key press may result in valuable information being lost. That is to get things wrong: data is safer on computers because it is much easier to do regular backups.

Continue reading »
Also posted in Online politics | Tagged , , , , and | 4 Comments
Mark Pack

A campaign thought for the weekend

By Mark Pack | Sat 21st July 2012 - 10:55 am

Laptop and mobileThe latest Ofcom survey shows that 94% of UK households use mobile phones.

Now consider what proportion of UK households have a usable letterbox for delivery of campaign leaflets; i.e. exclude those rural homes without a letterbox, those urban blocks of flats with just a door to push leaflets under, the multiple occupancy houses with a communal hallway but no personal letterboxes and so on.

And then there’s that property on the electoral register which, despite you circling the block four times, taking a peak from the skies …

Continue reading »
10 Comments
Mark Pack

How to survive a campaign and not sell your soul

By Mark Pack | Tue 12th June 2012 - 10:25 am

The successful (and at times rather controversial) Australian pollster Mark Textor has a great piece in the Sydney Morning Herald about how to survive election campaigns. It includes these tips:

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 5 Comments
Mark Pack

Beware putting your family in election leaflets

By Mark Pack | Sat 26th May 2012 - 11:10 am

One detail from Carina Trimingham’s unsuccessful legal action this week (possibly subject to appeal) is about using families in election leaflets:

Continue reading »
Also posted in News | Tagged | 16 Comments
Mark Pack

Five of the most common mistakes that Lib Dem campaigners make

By Mark Pack | Wed 23rd May 2012 - 9:50 am

Over the next few weeks, I’m taking part in a handful of training sessions about learning the lessons from May’s elections. There’s much to learn from May and from being in government, but I’ve also noticed that many of the old favourite, long-running lessons are very much still with us. So here’s my selection of the top five of those Golden Oldies.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 8 Comments
Mark Pack

Campaign Corner: Good luck

By Mark Pack | Mon 9th April 2012 - 3:50 pm

Thank you to everyone who has read, commented on or contributed ideas for the Campaign Corner series over the last 25 weeks. With this final post, it’ll have been going for six months and now, with people in full flight campaigning for May’s elections, is a good moment to bring it to an end.

If you are putting some of that advice to the test in May, and especially if you’re a Liberal Democrat!, best of luck and I hope it helps.

(If you’re not a Liberal Democrat by all means do follow the main themes of the advice: the public hate …

Continue reading »
Tagged and | Leave a comment
Mark Pack

Campaign Corner: How do we recruit more members?

By Mark Pack | Mon 2nd April 2012 - 3:20 pm

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: How do we recruit more members?

Continue reading »
Tagged | 7 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Tom Arms
    I meant to say that the UK supplies the nuclear warheads for its deterrent....
  • Tom Arms
    There are some areas where the US is likely to dominate for a very long time. Space is an obvious one. Ukraine would be up the proverbial creek without America'...
  • Ruth Bright
    @Paul is surely right, do we have age breakdowns for stats on members and active supporters?...
  • Tom Bailey
    Alex Macfie says: "He [Farage], has just seized on one case of supposed “anti-white bias” by the police (the only one available)" So the 3 decades of Brit...
  • Alex Macfie
    @Simon Robinson &c: Please stop pretending Nigel Farage is acting in good faith. He has just seized on one case of supposed "anti-white bias" by the police ...