Election campaigning

[Dentonian]

Apparantly (just a hint of sarcasm), there are local elections coming up in May. I was just wondering how many times, if ever, Forum members have been canvassed for votes at Elections. This will be my 39th year of Enfranchisement, and only once has a canvasser called at my door; 2006 Local Elections. Unfortunately, we were just going out - unusually for a weekday evening - so couldn't talk to the lady. Just wondering whether engaging individual voters on the doorstep still happens, or is an old myth from "Little England" i generations past.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Apparantly (just a hint of sarcasm), there are local elections coming up in May. I was just wondering how many times, if ever, Forum members have been canvassed for votes at Elections. This will be my 39th year of Enfranchisement, and only once has a canvasser called at my door; 2006 Local Elections. Unfortunately, we were just going out - unusually for a weekday evening - so couldn't talk to the lady. Just wondering whether engaging individual voters on the doorstep still happens, or is an old myth from "Little England" i generations past.

Oh it still happens. I did lots of canvassing myself (for Labour) in the general election last year. This year I haven't had time go to myself, but I know that in my own constituency (in London), other people are going out several times a week canvassing.

Can't speak for any of the other parties, but in the Labour Party it tends to be viewed as the single most important campaigning activity. Unfortunately, despite its importance, the sheer number of people to canvas and the time it takes to call on a door and speak to a person mean that in any one year, only a small proportion of residents are likely to talk to a canvasser (As an example, in my own borough council ward there are about 10 thousand residents. In a reasonable canvassing session, volunteers might manage to speak to - say - 50 people if they are lucky. You can do the maths yourself to see how many canvas sessions it would take to stand a chance of talking to everyone in the ward. Not only that, but these days, a growing proportion of people live in gated complexes where it's often impossible to gain entry to canvas).

 

[Glenmutchkin]

Where I live we have had active campaigning by the SNP and LibDems over the last few elections. Neither party's representatives liked being asked to explain how they would deal with high profile local issues and were evasive when pressed.

Labour and Tories didn't even bother.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I tend to talk a lot to the parties / candidates who I have no intention of voting for in order to slow them down and tell the one(s) I am voting for not to waste their time here but to get on and work the rest of the area.

An old trick, I know, but one which many still try...

 

[StoneRoad]

When I used to live in urban areas, I used to get some canvassing / leaflets for both local and national elections.
My first memory of being actively canvassed was on a Saturday evening, I had just come in from a day working in the local library - it had been exceptionally busy - and almost the first thing the gent said was that the council spent too much so he wanted to save money by closing the local library. That went well ! and he must have got a similar flea next door (my boss lived there !).
I live about a mile and a half outside the nearest settlement now, so about the only thing we get are the leaflets delivered with the post.
I haven't seen a real canvasser in years, apart from the ones at the polling station - who get a very short reply if they ask me any questions about my voting intentions ...

 

[birchesgreen]

I put a sign in my porch that says no canvassers, not that it bothers me but as a member of a political party my vote is already decided so i don't want anyone to waste their time...

 

[AlterEgo]

I’ve been canvassed once, when I was still living with my parents. I must have been 18 or 19.

Never been doorstep canvassed since then.

 

[Harbornite]

We've had visits from Labour and Lib Dem canvassers round here (SW Birmingham) but no Tories yet.

 

[takno]

We've had visits from Labour and Lib Dem canvassers round here (SW Birmingham) but no Tories yet.

Estimates put Tory party membership at around 1/10th the size of Labour, and little more than half the size of the Lib Dems, with a age profile trending into the 80s. They're probably increasingly hard-pressed to field a full set of candidates let alone do any canvassing.

 

[507021]

I have a few times, by Labour and the Liberal Party.

 

[hexagon789]

At the last council election: Lab, Con, SNP, Green
At the last General Election: Lab, Con, SNP, LD
At the last Scottish Parliament election: Lab, Con, SNP, LD, Green, Scottish Socialist.

 

[Dentonian]

We've had visits from Labour and Lib Dem canvassers round here (SW Birmingham) but no Tories yet.

Interesting; nominations don't close until next Friday, so I'm surprised electioneering can start before hand. I've just done some googling and can't find any details of any candidates in my borough (Tameside), but that could simply be tghat they aren't allowed to publish names until after 1600 next Friday. We used to get details hrough the local free paper, but the MEN took it over and closed it down!

 

[Dentonian]

At the last council election: Lab, Con, SNP, Green
At the last General Election: Lab, Con, SNP, LD
At the last Scottish Parliament election: Lab, Con, SNP, LD, Green, Scottish Socialist.

Wow! Either Scottish politicians are far more interested in their electors or you live in a very marginal ward and constituency.

 

[hexagon789]

Wow! Either Scottish politicians are far more interested in their electors or you live in a very marginal ward and constituency.

My Westminister seat was safe Labour, now safe SNP, I live in the First Minister's own seat for Holyrood but we also elect 8 additional members for the Glasgow region as well, and for Glasgow City Council it's 1 Lab, 1 SNP and 1 Con, same as the previous election in 2012.

 

[JohnR]

I put a sign in my porch that says no canvassers, not that it bothers me but as a member of a political party my vote is already decided so i don't want anyone to waste their time...

The trick I tell all our members is if you have a canvasser from one of the other parties, is to keep them talking, even tell them you are undecided. The longer they stay at your door (desperately trying to convert you to their cause) the less time they have to speak to others.

 

[birchesgreen]

Aha the dark arts

 

[hexagon789]

The trick I tell all our members is if you have a canvasser from one of the other parties, is to keep them talking, even tell them you are undecided. The longer they stay at your door (desperately trying to convert you to their cause) the less time they have to speak to others.

That's not a bad idea actually, bit sneaky but politics is a sneaky business!

 

[Dentonian]

Interesting aside given the Brexit referendum and the stereotype regarding Brexit voters; I used to live in a very working class ward; 4th most deprived of Tameside's 19 wards I believe; low car ownership; cash cow for Stagecoach (and its predecessors for nearly 90 years) and partly Manchester overspill. I now live in a slightly more middle class ward nearer to Manchester city centre with a lot of retired people and average if not slightly above car ownership.
At the last local elections (7 weeks before the EU referendum) both Labour candidates were elected with almost exactly double the votes of their nearest rival. The interesting thing is that in the more deprived ward it was the Tories that came second, but here it was UKIP. UKIP had polled a hundred or so votes in my old haunting ground back in 2010 and about 50 or 60 the following year, but then sunk without trace.

 

[hexagon789]

Interesting aside given the Brexit referendum and the stereotype regarding Brexit voters; I used to live in a very working class ward; 4th most deprived of Tameside's 19 wards I believe; low car ownership; cash cow for Stagecoach (and its predecessors for nearly 90 years) and partly Manchester overspill. I now live in a slightly more middle class ward nearer to Manchester city centre with a lot of retired people and average if not slightly above car ownership.
At the last local elections (7 weeks before the EU referendum) both Labour candidates were elected with almost exactly double the votes of their nearest rival. The interesting thing is that in the more deprived ward it was the Tories that came second, but here it was UKIP. UKIP had polled a hundred or so votes in my old haunting ground back in 2010 and about 50 or 60 the following year, but then sunk without trace.

UKIP are essentially non-existent up here.

 

[Dentonian]

UKIP are essentially non-existent up here.

There was a interesting "expose" on the local news this week about our Euro MPs. Apparently, there are (iirc) 782 Euro MPs and the two UKIP EMPs for NW England are both amongst the worst FIVE attendees/voters in Brussels - even when they are on a committee. One, ex leader Paul Nuttall argued that he didn't need to attend as the EU is now an irrelevance as any laws passed won't apply to his consituents. He also says, he has earnt his £80k a year by simply achieving Brexit, which is all that his party set out to do. A Labour MEP with an excellent attendance record (97.4% ish) countered that the EU will still be relevant and that very day she had voted for an amendment to improve the rights of all disabled passengers travelling in Europe - presumably referring to EU airports and Rail services.

 

[hexagon789]

There was a interesting "expose" on the local news this week about our Euro MPs. Apparently, there are (iirc) 782 Euro MPs and the two UKIP EMPs for NW England are both amongst the worst FIVE attendees/voters in Brussels - even when they are on a committee. One, ex leader Paul Nuttall argued that he didn't need to attend as the EU is now an irrelevance as any laws passed won't apply to his consituents. He also says, he has earnt his £80k a year by simply achieving Brexit, which is all that his party set out to do. A Labour MEP with an excellent attendance record (97.4% ish) countered that the EU will still be relevant and that very day she had voted for an amendment to improve the rights of all disabled passengers travelling in Europe - presumably referring to EU airports and Rail services.

Well I couldn't vote at the last EU General Election anyway.

 

[birchesgreen]

There was a interesting "expose" on the local news this week about our Euro MPs. Apparently, there are (iirc) 782 Euro MPs and the two UKIP EMPs for NW England are both amongst the worst FIVE attendees/voters in Brussels - even when they are on a committee. One, ex leader Paul Nuttall argued that he didn't need to attend as the EU is now an irrelevance as any laws passed won't apply to his consituents. He also says, he has earnt his £80k a year by simply achieving Brexit, which is all that his party set out to do. A Labour MEP with an excellent attendance record (97.4% ish) countered that the EU will still be relevant and that very day she had voted for an amendment to improve the rights of all disabled passengers travelling in Europe - presumably referring to EU airports and Rail services.

Plus Farage who apparently cares passionately about the fish industry got onto the EU Fisheries committee and only attended it once