There is an increasing hole in our democracy, a place where election candidates and political parties are finding increasingly difficult to reach. I refer, of course, to gated communities and those many high-rise blocks where access is by code or fob.
This is not assisted by owners and managers of these houses making it almost impossible to contact them to seek access. I have personally been escorted off the premises by officious caretakers who point blank refuse to give details of who manages the blocks. Now whether this only applies to political parties with whom they disagree, I have no idea.
Sometimes, there is a way round this problem. Some blocks have a trades button that operates for a few hours in the morning and enable those in the know to get in. Sometimes, it is possible to persuade a resident to let you in. (However, as I found out in a gated community in Mid Beds, that doesn’t mean they leave the gate open long enough to get out and I found myself having to climb over the gate!)
There are some rights, I am led to believe, in the Representation of the People Acts that purport to give candidates access to voters, but they are difficult to enforce, and obdurate officials simply stonewall and refuse to give access.
I now think this is a case for legislation to ensure that candidates and campaigners get access to every property to deliver leaflets and to canvass. If such houses were obliged to display at their access gates the name, address, phone number and email of the company managing the block (with suitably large fines for non-compliance) and those property managers were obliged to arrange access for election campaigners within say 48 hours of a request (again with large fines for non-compliance), then this problem might be solved.
Is this idea worth putting in a 10 minute rule bill? It may well be that other political parties would support a short simple bill to sort this out. Could our parliamentarians give this some thought?
* Dr Michael Taylor has been a party member since 1964. He is currently living in Greece.
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5 Comments
I don’t think so. Far better just to offer parties a freepost service for one campaign leaflet. I live in a council block myself and we get inundated with cold callers, scammers etc to the point that letters are sent out to residents to be wary. We’ve even had people getting into the block causing ASB so you can see why there’s a reluctance to admit anyone and everyone. This morning the Green party turned up with their campaign leaflet for the 2024 London Mayor candidate. No one let them in and the leaflets were all dumped outside the block. So I put them all in the recycling bin. Well at least I am doing my bit for the environment unlike the Green party.
The proposal to allow political parties into gated communities for the purpose of canvassing ignores why people choose to live this way to begin with. Privacy, not being disturbed and perhaps more importantly, security, are seen by some as being highly desirable. Allowing people (albeit with the best intentions) to come onto peoples’ land for canvassing will potentially rub the occupants up the wrong way and be entirely counterproductive.
Jason’s suggestion re offering a freepost service seems like a workable solution.
There is already a right under the Representation of the People Acts to deliver leaflets and canvass. It is absolutely the right of people to say they don’t want to speak to us, but in this case we can’t get in to seek their support at all. Democracy doesn’t work if you can’t engage. Freeport’s is only available for parliamentary elections. My proposal is to enforce a right we already have but is being frustrated.
Is it really worth the effort and time which could be more efficiently and productively be spent elsewhere?
Surely people who live in gated communities (as well as those in country mansions) do not wish to interact with canvassers and colporteurs, remaining aloof from the madding crowd, by paying for the privilege of not having to interact with the lower orders?
They probably only vote for the Conservative and Unionist Party, if they are eligible to vote and deign to vote at all.
@Adrian I’m not sure if you can make that assumption. I would expect that the biggest single reason why people deliberately choose to live in gated communities is in order to reduce the risk of crime and anti-social behaviour around their homes: Excluding political canvassers may be simply an unintended side effect. Some people may also live in gated communities because it’s the only place they can find (I did once seriously consider renting a flat in such a place. I had no particular desire to live in a gated community, but nearly took it because it was a nice flat and conveniently sited).
One other aspect that’s worth considering: I recall from years ago when I was in the Labour Party that the Labour councillors/council leaders had keys to get into some council-owned gated blocks of flats, which they were happy to use for canvassing/leafletting. That clearly creates a democratic unfairness if some political parties can access those residents but other parties can’t.