The fortunes of UKIP may to a large extent be dependent on the national mood, but locally effective campaigning by each branch can make a big difference, especially in local elections, but also in national elections. We have all seen the “rogue” seat in General Elections, where there is surprise ousting of the incumbent by an outside challenger, and in UKIP we are very much in that role.
Also, that campaigning is far more effective if it is maintained throughout the whole year, not just in the month before an election – voters almost expect to get accosted in that time, but if you appear on their doorstep halfway between elections, to listen to their concerns rather than to preach our line at them, they are a lot more receptive. However, door to door campaigning is expensive and onerous in manpower terms, and there is a far easier way of reaching the voters through the local media.
Letter written by a UKIP North West Hampshire member – Peter Sumner, a veteran local politician who served as an Independent and Conservative Councillor for 30 years before moving to UKIP.
In terms of newspapers, it is always possible that our own councillors and other politicians are making the news, but Joe Public can have their say in the paper by writing letters to The Editor. In my branch we have a system of key branch figures, including local Councillors, reviewing the local press (published on a Friday) each weekend and deciding in which areas to attack. Then the letters are written and we try to spread it around members so that the same name does not keep on appearing. Either they are given the topic and left to do it themselves, or a good copywriter does a draft, forwards it, the signatory may modify it to suit their style and then sends it off to the paper.
What then happens is it sparks a debate. The “opposition”, in our case the ruling Tory Councillors and their Leaders, will wade in with their own letters. Quite often they provide us with useful ammunition for a counter-attack, which is pressed home the following week, keeping them continually on the defensive. And, in my branch, we have seen a phenomenon of other local residents joining in the argument on our side. Of course, each of those is a recruiting opportunity, so we find out where they live (online electoral rolls and phone listings) and pay them a visit to say “thank you”.
We also collect all our press cuttings. In May, once the election died down we didn’t have any, by August we collected two pages worth of A4 when scanned, in September 4 pages, and in October reached 6 pages. These scans we then distribute to members to hopefully spur them on to get engaged themselves.
Then there is the online media. Quite often the paper will have a cut-down online version on which it may be possible to comment, and then there are other news sites that only operate online. Here’s an example of the one in Andover: http://www.andovertown.co.uk/
And then Facebook! We know we have to be careful using Facebook, but it can be a useful tool for reaching people, both to gauge feedback on what we say, and to engage in debate. Quite often local communities will have their own Facebook page, although some may have rules forbidding political discussion, and a Branch can of course set up its own Facebook page.
The message is more important than the medium though. Direct politicking may not always be the best approach. Given that UKIP is not afraid of engaging in political debate, as LibLabCon are, often initiating debate is more productive, then sit back, watch the reactions, and then wade back into the discussion with UKIP’s solution, which people will then be more receptive too, having seen the debate swinging in our favour to that point.
Happy scribing!
Article in the Bath Chronicle:
‘UKIP votes against pact with Tories in Bath and North East Somerset’
http://web.archive.org/web/20140328021022/http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/UKIP-votes-pact-Tories-Bath-North-East-Somerset/story-19938801-detail/story.html
A significant proportion of the article comprises quotes directly from our press release.
There are 236 comments below the article. Although the discussion went off at a tangent (onto energy policy) we brought it back for the most recent set of comments, which appear first. This number of comments appears to be a record at least for recent months.
Our branch (Bath and North East Somerset) is also actively using the local papers. We often have letters from members in the Bath Chronicle, Bristol Post, Somerset Guardian, and Western Daily Press. In addition we frequently comment below articles and letters on their websites.
We have also started a campaign ‘Keep Bath Different’. Our action day which launched this campaign appeared as an article in the Bath Chronicle, in the same edition an article giving the ballot results rejecting collaboration with the Conservatives.
We can help out each other’s branches too, not restricting ourselves to our own geographical area. You can set up a Google news alert, by for example typing in ‘UKIP’ into Google, then click on the ‘News for UKIP’ link. Scroll down and click on ‘Create an email alert for ukip’. Enter your email address into the box, you then receive a summary of all relevant news items every day via email. Many are for news items in local newspapers.
If members would like more detailed information regarding our branch press strategy please contact me via:
hugo DOT jenks AT bathukip DOT org DOT uk
Good article.
Please share good campaign advice like this when you can.