People’s Pledge referendum diary: Week two
Want to win a local campaign? Don't avoid the 'no-go' areas.
By Christopher Bruni-Lowe
Complacency often has consequences, a warning that should be heeded by those who mistakenly assume that winning the battle of ideas in the media is sufficient to carry a campaign to success.
There seems to be a pervading belief that winning the media battle will automatically translate (and replicate that success) at the local level – on the doorstep. Very rarely is this the case. If it does, it largely depends on the type of media attention and traction – local vs national, supportive or merely reportive – and whether this is the sum total of your campaigning activity. It must be part of a broader campaigning strategy.
Over the last two weeks, a comprehensive array of different media outlets –local, national, radio, press- have reported on the campaign and its plans in Thurrock. Notably at the local level, the Thurrock Enquirer – a prominent free local newspaper which covers both constituencies comprising the Thurrock area – ran its front page on Thurrock's selection as the first place for an EU referendum. There is little doubt that the media coverage the campaign has received has played a big part in the initial brand recognition of the pledge. The national coverage has lent us credibility and legitimacy when introducing the People's Pledge to the people of Thurrock and helps provide a large foot in the door when we are out canvassing.
But even with this media-derived recognition, make no mistake; the amount of printed ink dedicated to the pledge will matter little on April 5th if it has not been backed up by a solid month of campaigning on the ground. Canvassing, street stalls, meetings for local activists and hustings events are integral to the consolidation of our efforts in Thurrock. In my previous diary entry I described this first constituency referendum as a type of supercharged by-election. Even this may be understating the challenge. Starting a few weeks ago – and lasting for another month – we are cramming in a ground campaign of voter identification and targeting along with brand recognition that would normally take a parliamentary candidate two years.
There is a reason why this type of traditional campaigning is on the wane – not because it is no longer effective – far from it – or that campaigners do not have the time. There exists a real fear amongst some of knocking on doors and taking the argument to the people. Perhaps if there were more campaign groups and fewer think tanks the turning circle of political progress wouldn't be so large. Many of the SW1 elite are quite happy to exist in the Westminster bubble and not test their ideas on the people. The People's Pledge campaign believes that people should decide their own futures. The aim of the pledge is to empower voters and help give them a say on holding an EU referendum in this country that has been denied for so long. To be told while canvassing in Thurrock that we were the first political campaigners that had knocked on their door in 20 years – while perhaps not representative of the whole constituency – is surprising. There simply is no more effective a way to get the message across.
We were told when looking at the areas to canvass and hold public meetings "don't go there its too dangerous", "you won't be well received there – spend your time and resources elsewhere". If the People's Pledge is to achieve its objective in Thurrock there can be no no-go areas. Perhaps not entirely surprisingly, some of the places we were advised not to go and 'waste our time' have so far turned out to be the most fruitful and productive ventures – both in the supportive reception of our referendum plans and in signing up voters not on the public electoral role.
These are the places where a generation of campaigners had forewarned their successors "not to go there". Guess what – they didn't. As a former political agent I just do not understand that mentality. There are now so many areas in the country where this attitude has become embedded. Newly-selected candidates in so called 'unwinnable seats' do just about the bare minimum to get through. Yes, I am sure this is often down to financial constraints – many local parties are starved of resources and members – but knocking on doors doesn't cost a penny. Every time a campaign is run merely to survive it makes it harder for your successor to make a good showing of it. The example of the candidate knocking on the most doors winning the election may be an oversimplification of different negating factors but it is not entirely without merit. I can think of at least two high profile parliamentary candidates who arguably failed to win their A list seats because they wouldn't canvass high-rise flats.
One thing all those who have been out campaigning with the pledge team agree is what we are doing is a much easier sell on the doorstep. You are not asking people to change the way they vote; merely informing the voters that they have a vote and how to complete it. It seems to me one of the crucial differentiating factors of the People's Pledge is that we place no value in the outcome of an in/out referendum but are merely arguing for the right for people to have a say. Giving people a say is a powerful message on the doorstep. Our message in Thurrock is no different. Typical responses are a mixture of pride – in being the first to have a vote – and sadness – that it has come to this, insofar as local MP Jackie Doyle Price choosing to vote against a referendum in October and seemingly taking away their chance to have a say on this important issue.
Despite the oft-painted mood of disenfranchisement and voter apathy that many in SW1 attribute to the voting masses, using this assumption as a pre-emptive license to disengage and not take the argument to the people amounts to a crucial opportunity lost. Far from disengaging, voters have merely momentarily tuned out. There is no doubt that holding a referendum in Thurrock has re-engaged many. Our campaigning in the constituency so far has demonstrated to us that people do want a say. For the link between MP and voter to be restored, there must be an end to the subliminal rhetoric from some of the political class that voters can't be trusted. The 'anti-plebiscite' movement is rife among those who opine that the beer drinking working classes who have been indoctrinated by the Murdoch press do not know what's best. This kind of dismissive, insulting and even lazy thinking has to stop. The electorate can be trusted – Thurrock will show that.
Christopher Bruni-Lowe is campaign director and co-founder of the People's Pledge.
