10 campaigning priorities in the run-up to May

With just six months to go until the General Election and this being (so far) the first election since 1992 where I’m just a foot soldier, I thought I would share my checklist of the top ten campaign priorities I would be thinking about if I was an agent or candidate – many of which can be scaled down for people running in the council elections being held on the same day. You can choose at a local level to bob along like a cork on the tide created by the national campaigns – which can go down as well as up – or you can try to make your own luck by adding some political and organisational edge at a local level.

This isn’t intended to replace any instructions you are getting from within the party so please ignore me if I have accidentally contradicted the official plan! If in doubt refer to your copy of the General Election Handbook or call your Labour Party regional office!

1) Step up the volume of canvassing. However much you are doing you need to plot an accelerating curve from here (less the Christmas break) to the start of the short campaign, otherwise the shock of moving to canvassing every day will be too much. Every week you should be making more contacts with more voters than the week before. You need a target number of Labour promises needed to win (or to get an improved result in a non-winnable seat) and work back from that to work out how many voters you need to speak to every week. While it is dark in the evenings maximise use of phoning, which is faster and more accurate than doorstep canvassing.

2) Step up the quality of your voter contacts too. As you increase the number of people canvassing and the frequency of sessions, the candidate and other skilled canvassers can be focussing on high quality longer conversations with voters targeted because they have a casework issue, a policy interest or say they may switch to Labour.

3) Target. Unless you have a huge team you need to focus resources in the final six months on those areas of the seat where there are Labour supporters who need to be identified and persuaded to turn out, voters with a high propensity to switch, or supporters of smaller parties who can be persuaded to vote tactically. The Contact.creator computer system can tell you where the specific streets are to go to, but most people aren’t using it to the full level of sophistication it can manage.

4) Define the USP of your local campaign. Often CLPs don’t do this but there ought to be a compelling local reason to vote Labour to add to our national appeal, whether it is something attractive about the candidate (local credentials; track record in public office, work or volunteering; distinctive and appealing policy stance; charisma; bringing something missing to parliament) or the local party (track record of local delivery or campaigning on hot local issues such as a hospital or school closure or transport improvements).

5) Fundraise. Elections should not eat into a CLP’s reserves, you should be able to raise as much as you are legally permitted to spend in the final stages of the campaign. This should be through a mixture of social events that people pay to come to and by directly asking – if you don’t ask you don’t get. The candidate needs to be set fundraising targets and approach and personally ask people (members, supporters, friends of the candidate) and supportive organisations that are permissible donors to give.

6) Get loads of good photos taken around the constituency. You can never have enough photos of the candidate doing stuff, you will need them for leaflets and website and emails in the short campaign.

7) Write your direct mail letters now. This is time consuming as there is more text than in leaflets, but the effect is better as more people read an addressed letter. You should think about how many rounds of letters you can manage to print and deliver and then come up with appropriate segmented targeting e.g. Letter 1 segmented geographically and about how you would tackle issues in each locality; letter 2 targeting people who have expressed interest through surveys in specific policy issues; letter 3 segmented by canvassing return so firming up Labour supporters and reminding them of importance of voting, giving supporters of other parties compelling reasons why they should switch to Labour.

8) Make your campaign visible at street level. You can create momentum whether or not you have a big team by making a visual splash that defines Labour as definite local presence and a front runner in the seat. Before the short campaign this means lots of colourful street stalls and leafletting at stations, local events, workplace gates etc. During the election it means making a cult of getting people to put up window posters, especially on main thoroughfares, and systematically upgrading these by asking people to take a garden stake or even a 5’x3′ board. You need a small team of people to specialise in installing these.

9) Draw up a local grid. If you are going to determine the narrative of the local campaign you need to plan what stories you will place in the local media each week up until polling day. These can be events-driven (e.g. the campaign launch rally, announcement of candidate’s personal pledges) or policy-focused (choosing a week to highlight your stance on the NHS or schools or crime) or to do with the momentum of the campaign (“Labour says its now a two horse race in Anyshire constituency”).

10) Show solidarity. Unless you are in a key attack marginal that will decide whether we form a majority government or not, you will be twinned with one. Your help could make the difference between them winning and losing. Agree now with the seat you are twinned in when you will go there and how many people you will send them on Polling Day.
And an extra one – rest and recharge your batteries over Christmas and by taking time out for an evening each week. Campaigns are physically gruelling and are a marathon not a sprint – you need to pace yourself so you collapse after maximum effort at the end of the count, not before.