Cllr Mike Prendergast is the Conservative Group Leader on Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council
The world’s greatest horse race, the Grand National, has just been held in Sefton at Aintree Racecourse. Over 150,000 people attended the race-meeting over the course of three days, far, far more people than will probably vote in the local elections in Sefton on 2nd May.
That’s either a shocking indictment of voter apathy in Sefton or a rave review of Aintree racecourse.
At over four miles long, the famous steeplechase is most definitely a marathon and not a sprint. Successful winners know how to pace themselves and time their final run with a burst of speed to get their noses past the winning post first.
For all race fans out there, I Am Maximus triumphed (for once, I actually picked the winner mostly down to my love of the film Gladiator, I use a highly technical system to pick horses in the National, in no way based on the horse’s name).
We are now in the final furlong of the local election campaign with around 2,600 council seats up for grabs, of which about 1,000 are Conservative defences (my own included). As Conservative Group Leader on Sefton Council, I am standing for re-election in Dukes Ward, Southport and I’ve been out across the area as our local election campaign moves to its conclusion supporting as many of our candidates as possible.
The next couple of weeks are the final sprint and what happens between now and polling day could decide the outcome of local elections for many Conservative candidates up and down the country.
Paper Trail
Getting literature out in the last part of the campaign is always difficult. It is a huge part of any campaign and is vital to getting our message out there quickly and succinctly.
We all spend many hours getting photos, drafting and checking content and stuffing envelopes (so many envelopes).
Whilst we all put a great deal of time into our literature, the reality is that once it lands on someone’s doormat you have between 6-10 seconds to make an impression on those picking it up off the doormat and walking to the kitchen bin. Many people simply put their recycling box underneath the letterbox during the local election campaign, eliminating the need to even walk it to the bin!
What we put out needs to be punchy and eye catching to grab the attention of those receiving it in those fleeting seconds we have to make an impression on the reader.
In my own campaign, we will deliver thousands of leaflets and letters. We are (like many will be) highlighting local issues and what Conservative councillors can do for their communities. As well as council elections we also have fantastic Conservative candidates for the Liverpool City Region Mayor, Jade Marsden, and for Merseyside’s Police & Crime Commissioner, Bob Teesdale.
We get feedback from those who receive our literature, some of that inevitably comes from opposition supporters/activists. Naturally the opposition feedback (normally posted online), is interesting to say the least, my favorite being how much one person in particular seemed to enjoy our leaflets because they are both soft and absorbent.
It’s Good to Talk
Knocking on doors and talking to our electorate is by far the most effective form of campaigning. At this stage in the campaign most of us will be focussing on motivating our core voters, urging them to vote, apathy is one of our biggest enemies right now.
Local elections have, historically speaking, seen much lower turnout than General Elections. This simply means that the positive conversations we have on the doorstep have an even bigger impact on our campaigns.
In Sefton we are highlighting the issues with the current Labour council; under Labour we have higher Council Tax, inadequate Children’s Social Services and wasteful spending on shopping centres that have lost millions.
Highlighting the Conservative alternative with lower Council Tax, better public services and sound financial management in the conversations we have is going to be key for us in Sefton. After 12 years of Labour in Sefton, we are the change that I believe our area needs.
Yes, people are generally kinder on the doorstep than they are in the ballot box but the act of turning up and speaking to someone, rather than just shoving a leaflet through a letter box, is powerful and will garner support.
The reliability of our data will also be put to the test and the work that has been done in the preceding months should now bear fruit.
Turnout, Turnout, Turnout
All the literature we put out and canvassing we do is designed to motivate our core voters to turnout. Putting forward the positive benefits of Conservative led local authorities and highlighting Labour/Lib Dem failures.
Targeting those postal voters and polling day voters who we believe will vote Conservative is an effective use of time and resources as opposed to simply knocking on every door in a street.
On the day, an effective polling day operation can be the difference between winning and losing. Again, the reliability of our data will be put to the test but simply knocking on someone’s door, having the face to face conversation, can be enough to motivate someone to go out and vote.
The Final Furlong
There is no getting away from the fact that the forthcoming local elections are going to be tough for us. After a prolonged period in government there, it is always going to be difficult for the governing party to defend all our council seats and win/retain PCC and mayoral seats.
There is no love for Labour though and in those areas where they have ran councils, held mayoralties and PCC positions for long periods, as they have in Sefton and Merseyside, there is an appetite for change.
So, as we head into the final straight of our campaign, after having cleared the last fence, let’s not do a Devon Loch and collapse just before the finish but push on as Party Politics did in 1992 (perhaps a good year to compare to?) against the odds to a famous victory.
The post Mike Prendergast: After the Grand National, Sefton switches to the local elections race appeared first on Conservative Home.
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Author: Mike Prendergast
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