Labour Party Campaigning 101

While many readers of LabourList are veteran campaigners of countless elections over the years, I’m sure there is a good number out there who are still relatively new to the party and might not have had the opportunity to get involved properly or maybe aren’t sure what it actually entails.

With a general election on the horizon, I’ve outlined some of the key ways in which you can get involved. I’m leaving out the meetings and social activities; instead my focus will solely be on the campaigning techniques we use. These are all a great way to meet fellow Labour activists and to get more involved with the party. Let’s begin.

Letter stuffing

A vital backroom task. Stuffing personalised letters into envelopes for delivery is the foundation of any good campaign. Often done in a volunteer’s living room with lots of tea and biscuits, it can be a great way for those members who are less able to do other activities to still pay a key part in the campaign as well as being sociable and fun. 

Those letters will be delivered during a leafleting session. With a name and address on, these are far more likely to be read than just a leaflet, which sadly often ends up going straight into the recycling.

I previously used to work for an MP and during the 2015 election there was a crack team of stuffers in the office folding the latest letters and newspapers ready for delivery. Without them, the job of posting through letterboxes would have been much, much harder. 

Street stalls

A useful defensive tactic. In my opinion, these should be used in seats where Labour has little chance of winning or to supplement other campaign activity, especially if you have a small number of active members or resources. Yet they remain popular across the party and are helpful in areas where there is a low contact rate due to a lot of flats.

I will say they are very good at boosting visibility. Stalls are usually found in the local high street and usually consist of a table, a small number of activists and lots of freebies and leaflets. The idea is to speak to voters as they pass and maybe give away a leaflet with more information. This can work well if the candidate/politician is there with you to inject a bit of stardust.

I used to live in Chesham and Amersham CLP and during the 2015 general election, the street stalls were a good way of saying Labour cares. Indeed, a lot of residents would come up to us and say: “I had no idea Labour campaigned around here.” It might also have given the Tories the illusion that our relatively small campaign was much bigger.

Where street stalls fail is on data. I’ll talk about why this is important in a minute, but street stalls can spark good conversations with voters but often there is no follow-up, so that good visibility does not have such a long impact with voters. 

School gates

Like street stalls, only this time you pitch up at the gates of a local primary school and speak to parents. Again, this provides good visibility but doesn’t provide good data. You might also give the kids a sticker or balloon to take home, which hopefully they remember in years to come! 

Leafleting

A good pair of shoes are needed now. Leafleting is the loneliest way of campaigning, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Those letters that have been stuffed earlier will need delivering and it can be quite therapeutic. You’ll be given a batch of letters/leaflets by your local organiser and you’ll have to drop them off. How much you do is up to you; you can do a couple of streets or a whole block or estate. Again, this is crucial work as those personalised letters are likely to be read. 

You will also become very familiar with the ups and downs of letterboxes. Top marks for ones in the middle, blocks of flats with letterboxes in the foyer, and old ones without bristles behind. Big thumbs down for too low or too high letterboxes, sideways letterboxes and new ones with rigid bristles. And of course, keep your eyes open and ears out for dogs!

Phone canvassing

One of my favourite ways of campaigning. Canvassing is the process of speaking to voters and finding out how they intend to vote. Phone canvassing is helpful as it is quicker and easier than going door-to-door. You can ring more people in an hour and most importantly you gather precious data. 

Data is important because it shapes our campaign and narrows our focus on those who regularly vote Labour or those who are likely to vote for us. Because we know John at Number 15 always votes Labour, we know to make sure he gets out to vote, whereas Brenda next door usually votes Tory, so we won’t contact her. It sounds simple, but it’s crucial to winning an election. We wouldn’t have known this if we’d have spoken to John at a street stall but because we have his details from the electoral roll, we can ensure he gets the reminder to vote letter and a call on polling day.

Phone canvassing is also a great way to meet fellow activists and get even more involved. I have fond memories of phone canvassing during Sadiq Khan’s 2016 election with London Young Labour, where I met many good friends in the process, and I got even more involved as a result.

Door-to-door canvassing 

The pinnacle of Labour activism. Getting out onto the streets and chatting to voters at their doorstep is, in my view, the best campaigning you can do as a party member. Outside of polling day, it is a great way to meet voters face to face, find out their concerns and how they intend to vote.

Having that human contact surpasses phone canvassing, which can be a bit impersonal. It’s important to listen to what voters are saying. I tend to start a conversation with: “I’m from the Labour Party, is there anything I can help you with today?” This shows you’re not just there to get their voting preference but genuinely care about what they have to say. It can also be a good way to pick up casework for local councillors, who can also get a boost from this.

I would say there is a lot of fear around canvassing. I would also say a lot of that fear is unfounded. The overwhelming majority of people you speak to on their doorsteps are lovely or at the very least polite. Yes, you do get the odd troublesome door, but that are few and far between from my years of experience.

Again, the data gathered here is so important for the future. Not just the next campaign but also polling day itself.

GOTV

Speaking of polling day, it’s time to put that hard work across the campaign into practice on the big day. GOTV, or “Get Out The Vote”, is ensuring that those previously contacted voters make sure they go and vote.

Your stuffers are likely to be helping run a committee room, often in a volunteer’s house. From this base, teams of activists are sent out to knock on those doors where we know Labour voters are, ask them if they have voted and if not, roughly what time they will do so. Once we know they’ve voted they get crossed out, so the rounds get quicker as the day goes on.

You can also be a teller at a polling station. This involves getting up early and standing outside the station, asking people how they voted when they come out. This data is then fed back to the committee room who will mark them off as voted, so again, we know not to knock on their door, saving time and energy for those who haven’t yet.

The marked register

Finally, once the election is over and the results have been announced, the final task you can get involved with is filling in the marked register.

The marked register is something the party pays for after an election. It’s a copy of the sheets used by the clerks in polling stations, which they use to cross off your name when you vote. Using a computer, we can input those people who actually voted. This will help for the next election as over time, we can see who the regular voters are, so we know to target them, especially if they’re Labour. It’s a very laborious task, but it is crucial to setting up success in the next election, so if you have the time, it is a great way to make a difference.

There you have it. The basics of campaigning in the Labour Party. I hope this will inspire you to get involved yourself. There are millions of real voters out there, outside the Westminster bubble and the Twittersphere, so it’s hugely important we speak to them, listen to them and hopefully get them behind Labour. Get in touch with your local or regional party, and let’s make it happen.