Political

Lib Dems launch tool for members to look up which target seats to help

Targeting effort into the most marginal seats is crucial under first past the post. A few extra votes in the one seat can be the difference between winning or losing while in another seat it’s the difference between finishing third with 10.3% of the vote or third with 10.4%.

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That’s why targeting is such a big part of Liberal Democrat election campaigns (and when done well, is complementary to building up our core vote rather than a rival to doing that). It’s also why the Liberal Democrats have just released a tool to look up nearby target seats to go help with. It uses your postcode to find the best places to help near you.

It’s at www.libdems.org.uk/go (behind the member login). When using it, bear in mind that:

  1. The site is based on the party’s latest data on where extra help will be most beneficial. So don’t be surprised if, say, a seat the party won in 2010 is not listed. That may not be where your help is most needed. Especially as…
  2. The party’s membership is not evenly distributed around the target seats, so in some areas with lots of members but fewer target seats, for example, you might be asked to help further away than would otherwise seem obvious. But…
  3. The tool doesn’t take into account travel time or where you may work. So it can be worth trying some different postcodes in it, such as to see if there’s somewhere convenient to go and help after work during the week which may be different from what comes up for your home address.

Here’s also my video from the last election explaining the importance of targeting and how it works:

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7 responses to “Lib Dems launch tool for members to look up which target seats to help”

  1. Slight issue with the tool – I live just over the border in Wales, and am under an hour from Hazel Grove, and just over two hours from Brecon and Radnorshire..

    Guess where my target seat is…??

    • Richard – the tool isn’t about the nearest seat, but rather also takes into account where needs help and what the distribution of members near those seats is. For example, if a target seat has lots of very high party membership local parties near it, then directing them all to the nearest seat may mean it gets loads of help but another really important target seat gets less help.

      So the tool does use your location to suggest sensible places to go but in order to get the right balance of help in the right places, it won’t always give you the nearest place.

    • I’ve heard a couple of people have that problem but it then worked for them ok if they turned off the blocking of cookies on their machine. May be worth trying similar?

  2. Out canvassing with Marti. GOSS in Colchester yesterday. Came across somebody who has lived in the same house for 35 years & had never been canvassed by any party! Good news is he is a Libdem supporter.

  3. Mark this is the first message I have received about targeting help in winnable seats. Your message is dated 2 weeks ago. So we have already lost 2 weeks of phone campaigning. why was this not sent out on time??
    Years ago all members were made aware of which seats we are targeting – is the reason that remains a secret due to the enlarging of our membership base with people who are not entirely committed to membership having access to this site. Please comment!!
    Is there any reason why full members have not yet had an ALLERT?? Perhaps by post??

    • Hi John – there have been at least two emails out to party members including this site so far. If you’ve not seen them, worth checking with help@libdems.org.uk that the party has the right email address in the records for you, and may also be worth keeping an eye out on your spam folder in case party emails are landing there.

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