Labour’s debate over the value of canvassing
The credible news that Labour’s canvass contact rate in the South Shield constituency before its recent Parliamentary by-election was just 0.2% has triggered a debate in the party about the importance of canvassing.
Over on LabourList, Jessica Assato makes this point which is applicable to all parties:
Street stalls, noisy protests, community clean-ups and coffee mornings are important in the mix. But what about all those people who you miss?…
It is no surprise that people feel disengaged when no one political has ever knocked on their door and spoken to them about their noisy neighbours or their need for a community centre.
In Norwich we very rarely conduct doorstep sessions which aren’t accompanied by a petition for a campaign we are running or a survey for local residents to complete…
Yet it doesn’t mean that asking someone’s voting intention is pointless. It takes a few seconds at the end of your conversation on the doorstep and gives you a way of judging the impact of your community campaigns. To have no way of recording whether your community campaigns are changing minds before an election is like sailing out to sea without a compass. And how on earth do you know where your voters are on election day? Telepathy?
Voter identification is an old, but trusted tool. Look at the seats which swung against the tide in 2010 – Liverpool West Derby, Islington South, Chesterfield – these all had very high voter ID rates and solid community campaigning too.
I agree with Jessica.
I agree with Dawn.
I agree with Nick…
There are some Labour & Tory seats where THEY have no need to do anything. A Chimpanzee that could walk more of less upright, wearing a suit, and with the right colour rosette might well end up in Westminster [ yes I know the comment that some ‘Chimps’ already have !]. For LibDems there is no argument. Bill Winlow increased his majority on Lancs CC due in no small measure to going out door knocking once a week, either alone or with others, over most of his previous 4yrs on the Council.
I wonder where Jessica Assato was canvassing in her seat of Norwich North? Labour made now progresss outside of the four divsions in Norwich City. Where she hopes to beat Chloe Smith in Norwich North she needs to start winning in the Broadland District Part of her seat and having been at the count for the divisions there last Friday the few Labour people who were were not looking pleased.
I am not sure you can win. Too much leafleting can upset voters. I reckon three per campaign is sufficient if the timing is right . Fewer people are willing to answer the door -especially after work.
A telephone call from yet another phone bank is an irritation to many. Frankly the general public are no longer interested in politics. Survival is the current aim and politicians cannot help wi that even if they believe they can!