This “follows on” from the
previous post about the count. But preceding the count was the canvassing. I
get asked quite a bit about this and how it is to knock on the doors of
strangers. And it is actually alright. People are generally not anywhere near as
bad in person as they are behind a screen.Or they are but you don’t notice it as
much as it is hidden behind politeness.
I am not a huge ”street” campaigner to be honest, and I prefer to be the “data
guy” where I can but within the last year, leading up to the expected 2024
General Election, I did visit a few constituencies for “door knocking” sessions
(see this blogpost
on telling to see what some of this leads to). These were as follows and, as
you can see, all but one were Conservative held seats and so were
“battlegrounds” or “marginals”. It is also worth saying that in the one Labour
seat, major campaigning was effectively blocked by shutting down the system[1]
that supported it as a prod to activists to go further afield. In fact, when
looking for events for my postcode, the system suggested other constituencies in
all cases and at all times including when there were events locally. This did
definitely mean that we did not have access to the same number of activists as
often “stronghold” seats would also have activists that would not want to, or be
able to, go further afield.
Why did I go to these places?
I don’t particularly want to make political (policy) commentary here and my
intention here is to show the difference in operational approach that may be the
result of different strategic approaches.
So let us say, very simplistically, you have 100 activists. You
may get 60 of them campaigning locally in a stronghold (S) and 40 of them going
to marginals (M). So you get an increase in visibility and an increase in votes
in both the stronghold and the marginal.
If you shut down the opportunity to stay local, you may get 0 locally and 60 in
the marginal. So you have greater help where you think it is needed but a lower
amount of help overall. So maybe you see an increase in the M seat and a
decrease in the S seat. That may mean you win two seats.
I think that is more efficient in
winning the vote but there is definitely an argument to say it is not
considering all the externalities in such a simplistic model. And politics isn’t
about winning to win but to win, effect change and stay in power.
The S seat has probably also got more untapped activists that might be able to
grow your 100. The actual voters in an S seat may also note the lack of activity
and remember that at the election and in the future reducing the strength. The M
seat does have more space to grow into and the likelihood is that they don’t
have as many activists to begin with so an extra 5 on 5 may be hugely noticed in
a way that an extra 5 on 100 is not. In the “first past the post” system, you
need to pass a threshold and any more than that is effectively unnecessary
headroom. But you might lose the interest of 40 activists in a seat.
This is a little like goal difference in football and as a fan, I have seen big
victories followed by narrow defeats so many times and thought “if only we could
have spread the goals better”. But (topically) the Greek side in Euro 2004 did
similar with efficient 1-0 victories to take you to the trophy. They were not
able to effect change and stay in power… It was seen as an aberration and there
have been no other (successful) countries wanting to follow that model.
I think this is a difference in the approaches of the two most recent leaders of
the Labour Party and I am not making a judgement on which approach is correct or
not. The “more activists and deep victory” approach is a people powered
movement, Lots of people are involved and can be enthused by it all. The “fewer
activists placed carefully” approach is about doing “more with less” and needs
people that are enthused already as the whole movement will be less fun. In a
nutshell, that is my experience of the approaches.
Locations canvassed
I went to a few constituencies but it is also worth noting that Britain is a
very mixed up country and each constituency is made up of vastly different
components and so the parts I visited may not be representative at all. I know
that from visiting them but that may not be as clear to those reading a pithy
little take and a 3 word review. Please note that the boundary changes mean that
the maps are not exactly on the same boundaries but give a sense of it. Click the maps to see a better quality image of the deprivation measured in these constituencies to get a sense of the voter base.
[Con] Cities of London and Westminster
This was the first place I went of the actual campaign and we were in an area
that might not be called traditionally Labour. The feedback here was not always
positive but it was far more friendly than my previous visits to these kinds of
areas. I would say it was neutral rather than hostile. To give an indication of
the place, I was told that “no parent would vote for Labour” because of
the policy around requiring private schools to pay tax like other similar
businesses. One notable thing here is that many of the doors were inaccessible
but you could ring at the gate and they would let you in or speak to you from
the door. It was odd to hear people shouting in the street (effectively) that
they were voting Labour in this neighbourhood. I also had a chat with one person
that was quite irritated (and made that clear, but also clarified a few times
that he was not with me personally) that people were chasing his vote now but
had not spoken to him in years. This could be for a number of reasons but he was
at least cognisant of the fact that I was from a neighbouring constituency and
not in a position to be complained at. Speaking to people face to face is pretty
disarming and the conversations are generally quite nice.
3WR: Money, Money, Money
Result: Labour MP - Rachel
Blake
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001172
[Con] Finchley and Golders Green
I had not been here for a while but this was supposedly the seat with the most
Jewish electorate in the country and so had been quite a target in previous
elections for those wanting to make hay. This meant it was an oddly “local”
election as in 2019, the Labour leader was consistently branded as anti-semitic
and so it was expected to move quite differently to the underlying political
movements. I also grew up locally although not in this constituency and so was
familiar with the rhythm and bass of the place if not necessarily the melody.
The atmosphere was good in the sessions with good humour and effort. The
candidate was also known to me as she lives locally to me although she grew up
in this constituency. My most notable conversation here was based on asking
about whether Sarah was local (or local enough) as she lived about 4 miles away
from the household I knocked at. I am hopeful that the person, who was going to
complete her postal vote that evening, was able to use that conversation to make
her decision - she did note that Sarah had been active in the community for many
years. The conversation itself was fairly long and pleasant with the voter also
commenting that it was nice to have people (meaning activists in general)
showing an interest. Another notable interaction was someone telling me that I
should not be campaigning for the Labour Party at all due to Gaza. It was a
reminder that a constituency does not have one voice. I did go here a few times
and each time, I was reminded that this was a summer election and we don’t have
those often.
3WR: This feels nice
Result: Labour MP - Sarah
Sackman
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001238
[Con] Hendon
This was a Barnet borough seat that I went to on a larger “action” day and even
managed to persuade an acquaintance
[2]
that lived locally to come along with her dad. As I did not really speak to
many constituents and was running a board and helping some first-timers, I
cannot say too much here. I was walking with the candidate though and it was
impressive to see how many people he wanted to speak to. The level of effort and
determination was pretty impressive and I really wish more of the electorate
were aware of how hard some of these candidates work for these roles. And before
the roles! The geography of the area around Hendon central seemed familiar
although I had not been there before due to the
suburbia feel to it. A
place where it is simultaneously difficult and easy to lose yourself.
3WR: Keep it moving
Result: Labour MP - David
Pinto-Duschinsky
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001279
[Con] Chipping Barnet
This was a seat I had spent a long time in over the years but not politically.
In the miserable 2019 campaign, I remember coming out here in the rain to run a
(paper) board out to very rude constituents. This was, again, the rudest
constituency I found but there was also some politeness and positivity. I grew
up in Chipping Barnet but there is an area between the M25 and the High Street
which is almost unknown to me. It is an area to drive through and has many large
houses - the kinds of places with names rather than numbers. This was a polling
day visit and so traipsing around here where the housing was very low density
and very rich felt inefficient to me. There were other areas which were more
accessible but other people without access to cars had done those so I went to
the very north of the constituency with one person that had a car. I had two
notable interactions in this largely “against” area. One man decided to swear at
me and told me that I should not be campaigning on polling day as it was not
allowed. I was not sure if he had a different interpretation of the laws to
every political party in the land but I did not find out which way he was
voting. It left me a bit shaken and annoyed, to be honest but this is something
that you just have to push yourself not to be too fussed by. I had seen worse.
Another man, whom we had expected to be supportive, rushed over to me from
across the road where he was doing something to his car to speak to me. This
felt risky but when I asked him, he said he had surprisingly put the tick in the
same box he had for 40 years. He was very pleasant though, and explained to me
that he liked what he saw but found something against
Angela Rayner. That he
was impressed with her personally but could not imagine her speaking with
foreign dignitaries like Macron (“but maybe Trump wasn't a good example!”). I
know that there has been a Conservative campaign against her but this was the
first I had heard of it. I think even he knew there was not much to it as he
said she was actually very impressive. Anyway, he said good luck to me and let
me carry on. Afterwards, when we got back in the car, he came over again and
told me to have a glass of bubbly for him that evening! Again, the atmosphere
was pretty pleasant.
3WR: Is this Barnet?
Result: Labour MP - Dan
Tomlinson
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001169
[Con] Uxbridge and South Ruislip
I visited this seat in the previous year’s by-election but that was less than a
year ago! That time was when the Conservatives kept banging on (inaccurately)
about ULEZ and so, as it was pre-implementation, the scares were working. I
knocked on a lot of doors of people that had compliant cars that did not want to
vote for Labour because of the charge. And lots of people that did not seem
overly concerned about poorer constituents in any other situation except where
they would have to pay a charge for polluting the air. This was a long time ago
now, and that particular by-election was not successful. That would come later.
3WR: Massive cars everywhere
Result: Labour MP - Danny
Beales
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001558
[Lab] Holborn and St Pancras
A relatively “dull” canvass as this is a place I have been many times with
little to learn - but a great way of getting into the swing and understanding
the new software and approach. I absolutely love this constituency though with
the varied feel across it and mini-communities hidden away in the estates.
People were positive on the doorsteps but that was fairly early in the campaign.
I have always told people that if they want to canvass, they should do so on
safer ground first (such as this) so that they are not too stressed by it all.
That will make them able to be more effective as it counts. I ended up in a chat
with a person that was studying politics at university - their first political
memory at all was seeing their parents seeming distraught at the Brexit result.
That’s a sobering thought about the march of time.
3WR: Home Sweet Home
Result: Labour MP - Keir
Starmer
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001290
[Con] Corby and East Northamptonshire
This was an entirely new constituency for me and the type of constituency that I
had not always been drawn to. Especially post-Brexit, I have been uncomfortable
(see my thoughts on Brexit Day) about going to non-urban spaces (Corby itself
has high and low-density areas) and have also suspected that having non-white
London accents at the doorstep may be counter-productive. These sessions were
different to those I had done before with drives required to get to the streets
and lifts needed timed to train journeys.
I generally run boards and so stay less visible but I did have one longish
interaction with a Labour/Reform voter that was undecided between the two
parties. This started badly from his first response but it did continue into a
conversation. This was a man that had been part of the London Transport
workforce and even been door knocking for John McDonnell, but was now wondering
whether Reform or Labour were right. Reform, I am told, were honest and not
afraid of telling the truth and were not racist. He spoke of refugees and how
they travelled across the continent and then mentioned Schengen. He asked me
about it. I did not expect to be discussing Schengen on the doorstop a full eight years after the country
decided not to join Schengen and leave the EU. But campaigns do this, they make
people say things. I explained what I understood of Schengen and that we could
not have been following the rules of Schengen as we were not part of it. I
likened it to the Common Travel Area we have with Ireland. He was surprised. He
did not know this. But he did not react badly to it, he did not act as if I was
patronising him, he acted as if he did not know it and it was further
information. The conversation continued, he was a nice guy that had suffered
from a stroke, had suffered from “long covid” and was just happy to still be
alive. I noted a “Griffin Park” sign and commented on Brentford FC and he joked
about my accent for a Liverpool fan[3]
and we parted. It was a long talk and a reminder of why I usually run the board
from an operational perspective but it was something that left me pleased and
frustrated. I was hopeful that I had left a positive impression on him. But then
I thought about what that meant. Would speaking to a non-white person who was
speaking to them normally have had a positive impact on his view of all
non-white people in some way? I have spoken of my feeling of “representative”
status before (see fn7 of this Vietnam
blog post) and how that can change people’s minds. I am always concerned
about doing that the wrong way but could I also do it in the right direction?
Should I have been doing this earlier?
I’ve had a recent conversation elsewhere about the pain of being a pioneer and
“identity politics”. That someone so often has to take the hits so that others
don’t have to and a phrase known among many second generation immigrants is that
“they walked so that we could run”. But walking is hard.
3WR: Eye opening interaction
Result: Labour MP - Lee
Barron
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001179
I hope that these vignettes have been somewhat enlightening for those unaware of
the process. I would strongly suggest giving it a go once if you can. Although I
am not always one of them, however much I “love a chat”[4], many people do love
these door knocking sessions and many of them had no idea that they would. I am
not expecting there to be a General election soon but canvassing goes on around
the year and around the country so maybe give it a go.
1. This closing down of the system, ostensibly to try to ensure that limited resources were applied effectively has been subject to some odd commentary about abandoning places. In the case of the Camden seat that I live in, there has been regular canvassing for years and a recent GLA election to give good data.↩
2. Her father was in the Ghibli
Club that I sort of ran during part of the pandemic lockdown.↩
3. These things are somewhat related, and maybe not consciously. Football, for
me, was a television thing for a long time. In the eighties, most Asian kids
would not even dream of going to football because most Asian parents, correctly,
would not even dare to dream it was a safe place. There was a part of me as I
walked away thinking, “it is probably due to some other people that are
currently voting Reform and were shouting racist abuse that I did not follow a
club in London”. I used to be more bothered by the glory-hunter jibes but not so much now. ↩
4. I was told, somewhat recently, that I “love a chat” by a colleague and it has had an odd effect of making me question my self-image. I don’t think I do but other people have backed this up and, you know what? Maybe I do. I am aware that I am much more conversational on holiday than when I am not - and there is no real reason for this. If you know me, why not let me know if I do actually “love a chat” or not.↩