If a political campaigning leaflet arrives on my doormat, there is a good chance it could be from a Lib Dem candidate. One of their strengths is this basic form of communication, and gathering a team of volunteers to make the deliveries.
This was particularly evident in York last week where Lib Dems scored a victory in a local by-election following the death of a Conservative member.
According to York Outer Conservative parliamentary candidate, Julian Sturdy, Lib Dems delivered an astonishing 17 leaflets during the campaign (is this a record for a by-election?), despite complaints from residents that enough was enough.
So even if the leaflets did end up in the bin, it seemed to do the trick. Despite the many strengths of the social media, we must not overlook the basics, as well as repetition, repetition and repetition.
Do you also find that Lib Dems drop off more leaflets than other parties?
*Another interesting point about this result was how BNP pushed the Greens into last place – can we expect more of this in future elections, is it a sign of our times?
I know a lot of Conservatives who think the Lib Dems are a lot better at local campaigning than us.
It’s a shame that CCHQ give so little support and such useless advice to local constituencies. Simple tactics can often go a long way.
In Cardiff, yes, we used to get more leaflets from the Lib Dems and also a local newsletter. People like this sort of communication. Also, if you had a problem, the Lib Dem councillor would nearly always be the first to respond. An irritating thing that the Tories would do when they did deliver their boring leaflets was to push them only half-way through the letter-box, thereby advertising the fact that the householder was not at home. I used to grab these and march with them round to the Tory councillor’s house and push them right back in the same way, with a note attached saying that I expected more common sense from the “party of law and order”.
The short answer is yes the Lib Dems do generally leaflet more.
Having said that – they only do it in areas they want to win or hold. For example in the general election in Bassetlaw they didnt put one piece of paper out at all – as they were busy working in Chesterfield.
Could you post pics of the leaflets (or send them to me and I will).
Were the bar charts honest?
lol, if leaflets could win elections
they’d be raining out of the sky …
but it is true that some take aways ‘regularly’ have to leaflet, or see their custom and trade die. Not that 20,000 leaflets will get you more than a customer or two, but also to prevent the customer forgetting you. Mind you one cannot stop a customer trying another take away every now and then – but they have to leaflet to make sure they win them back.
In politics, the menu is a lot less varied and usually bland – but I guess if you tell people something often enough they might believe you.
I wonder whether there’d be any significance change if all the parties could leaflet as many million homes as often – I guess it would still depend which day of the week, or which day of the month the leaflet came thru …
Ellee ,
You should be worried nearer to home ( though obviously you work for the Sturdies ) and the Tories behaviour at South Cambs District Council widely reported in your past employers rag the Cambridge News .
Seems that the new Tory Leader has been found guilty by no less a body than the Standards Board for England of telling porkies about a fellow Independent councillor .The public didnt seem to care much for this type of behaviour as they emailed into a poll saying that 61% of them thought he should resign .
Its no good trying to say that the Lib Dems are a load of chancers when we have people in the Tory party who tell fibs ( disgusting behaviour really ) about other people .
Yes, they drop more leaflets than anyone else where I am. Theyy are good at local communication. The Conservatives should follow this lead.
Georgegirl, Yes,I have been following the South Cambs council issues. It is not acceptable for any councillor or politician to do this, but I fear they do, it would be naive to think otherwise.
I remember being in the Question Time audience audience when the warm up question asked us if anyone present had never lied. No hands went up.
Obviously those in an official position should know better.
I remember my time when I was the Conservative candidiate in a lib/Lab tight race for a County Council seat. The sitting Liberal councillor had died three months prior to the election and before the election was called all the nearby activists had adressed a set of little blue envelopes. The candidate then hand wrote a small letter on A5 blue paper saying how she was really priviledged to be the candidate, how there was Labour dirty tricks ect, ect. The letter was colour printed and stuffed inside the handwritten envelopes. They then sat on the shelf for two months until the day before the vote, when they were all delivered.
Even though I lived in the ward, when they leafleted they refered to the other candidates as living outside of the ward and the Conservative candidate is also a district councillor for XXX ward which is miles away. I had to laugh as the Liberal candidiate herself did not live in the ward. I tried to laugh through gritted teeth at this.
The Libs were able to pull in councillors from elsewhere up to 90 miles away. Both Labour and ourselves struggled to get even the county and district councillors to help. Infact only 5 county councillors attended our leafleting drops.
The result was that she managed to get over 50% of the poll. It was an education for all concerned.
However when the district council seat was contested (which has the same boundaries) the results fell back in line to previous elections was all the effort could not be maintained. (Infact the Libs actually lost a seat in the city as they over reached themselves thinking they were on a roll).
I hope no one in the party is navel gazing too much. These things happen – and we learnt that next time we have to be as smart.
Cookiemonster, I so enjoyed your comment, what a fascinating insight. It reminds me of UKIP and how they mustered an army of volunteers during the last Euro elections. As you say, an education for us all, at the end of the day, it comes down to basics, with commitment and support from fellow party members too.
I can tell you, in all honesty, Ellee, that I haven’t received one LibDem leaflet in the past ten years. Truly.
In cognitive terms the leaflets act as recency and so the party comes top of mind when standing in the booth wondering where to put an X. Of course, if no-one else is leafleting, it also offers saliency in standing out from the more apathetic lot.
Personally, I find it arrogant of anyone wanting to sell me something not to bother to communicate directly with me. Reliance on centralised, mass media strategies is no replacement for good local personal connections.
And even more important is to ensure communications are ongoing not just before you want my vote.
It’s not just a case of being better at campaigning when it looks like your party take the Mick on expenses limits.
PS could I get a link in the Blogroll please Ellee?
An update: I’m told the ward is actually much smaller than my projection with perhaps only 25-30% as many doors. So by spending every penny on print they could have done 17 basic Riso leaflets inside the budget by about £8.
But if anyone can supply any examples of the leaflets and/or forward on the budget breakdown they submit I’d be interested.
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I have a rather large sign on my door which says “No Leaflets or Newspapers whatsoever” which the Lib Dems just ignor and as this makes my blood boil I could never vot Lib Dem.