Fourth to First: a must-read guide on how to win a council election

Fourth to First: How to win a local election in under six months by Freya Aquarone and Steffan Aquarone is a short but highly informative and entertaining guide to what really happens in local council elections. It follows the attempts of Steffan, aided by his sister and campaign manager Freya, to become a councillor in Norfolk.

Told with genuine affection for the weirdness that local political campaigning can be, Fourth to First is an excellent guide for anyone wanting to become a councillor, help someone become a councillor or thinking about doing either. It should become a must-read for new (and not so new) political activists. It is stuffed full of practical tips about leaflet logistics, community campaigning and planning toilet breaks.

Throughout the book, they both also show a canny judgement in what traditional ways of Liberal Democrat campaigning to not only stick with but to up the intensity of and also what things to try to change.

The campaign choices they made are particular to a short-ish campaign (only six months) and to fighting a rural area. However, potentially eyebrow-raising decisions such as their low key use of social media are always explained, allowing readers to work out whether that decision might be applicable in their own circumstances or not.

Buy Fourth to First: How to win a local election in under six months by Freya Aquarone and Steffan Aquarone from Amazon or Blackwell’s.

If you like this, you might also be interested in 101 Ways To Win An Election.

Note: a review copy of this book was provided to me by the authors.