Knock until you drop!

There were seven principal council elections held on the 2nd April. The Tories held four seats and gained one from Labour. The Lib Dems gained one seat from Labour and held one seat. There were two Town and Parish Council results reported to ALDC. One Lib Dem loss to Tory, and two Tory holds.
In the Redcar & Cleveland BC Dormanstown Ward, Ken Lucas achieved a 17.3% increase in vote share to take the seat from Labour. The campaign delivered was based around a mix of leaflets and target mail, with the emphasis on, getting on the doorstep. From having no data for this ward, the local team now have data from 55% of the ward. This shows again that you have to get on the doorstep.

In the Camden Ward of Belsize, Tom Simon achieved an increase of 5.4% against a concerted Conservative campaign, which consisted of lots of leaflets along with lots of negative campaigning being delivered on the doorstep and phone. The Lib Dem campaign was targeted with lots of doorstep voter contact and plenty of leaflets and targeted mailings to identified voters. Yet again showing that doorstep is best for connecting with our voters.
In the Leeds City Council Temple Newsam, Ward Ian Dowling and his team came from 5th in May 2008 with 521 to come only 283 behind the Tories with 1,468, which boads well for the next election in Temple Newsam ward.
In the Arun DC Ward of Felpham West Martin Lury’s team achieved an increase of 6.2%. In the Calderdale Ward of Skircoat the local team led by Pauline Nash came a good second and are in a good place for the next election to go on and win it. In the Huntingdonshire DC ward of Ramsey we came third behind the Tories, In South Holland we achieved 18.9% in a seat where we had not stood before, with more work this is a good start for future elections here.

Mark Alcock
mark.alcock@aldc.org
 

There were six principal council elections held on the 5th March. The Tories held three seats and lost one to the Liberal Democrats. Labour gained a seat from the Tories. The Lib Dems held one seat. There were two Town and Parish Council results reported to ALDC . One Lib Dem hold and one Lib Dem gain from Independents.

In the Buxton Ward of Broadland Council in Norfolk we took a seat from the Tories with 71% of the vote. This election demonstrated that high literature volumes in rural wards do work! Our campaigners found that they were hitting a glass ceiling for voter ID despite good turnouts at Saturday mass canvass sessions. It’s important to vary the times of day, and days that you canvass. Some people will always be out on Saturdays. Once this was taken on board “outs” were sought at different days and times until they were canvassed.

The successful candidate Barabara Rix made a bee-line to the ALDC stall at Harrogate conference to sign up as a member of ALDC. Remember members of ALDC are three and half times more likely to get elected in local elections than non –members. ALDC is for those campaigning to become councillors as much as those who are already elected.

The BNP targeted Castle Ward of Carlisle Council for another gain following last weeks result in Sevenoaks and some encouraging results in Cumbria. Castle ward has been Lib Dem held for years, but the by-election was due to the resignation of our newest councillor. The BNP hopes to get Nick Griffin elected as MEP in the North West and put out 12 pieces of literature, flooded the ward on the day with a full polling day operation, and had Nick Griffin out on the streets. The North West is lucky; it woke up to the BNP threat some years ago. The region and its MEP organised help and interventions to improve the Castle campaign and ensure the BNP’s defeat.

This proactive approach combined with a specific campaign fund are initiatives that some but far from all regions have emulated, it’s time they did.

There were five principal council by-elections held on Thursday 19th February. The Liberal Democrats held three seats. Labour held one and lost one to the BNP. In the only parish and Town council election reported to ALDC the Lib Dems gained a seat from the Conservatives.

As you might expect from a by-election in the held Harrogate parliamentary seat we fought the Bilton Ward by-electon hard and well. We managed to build on good canvas returns to get an 89% contact rate. Many agents locally and nationally will be very jealous of that!!

   In holding the two seats in the Downham ward of the London Borough of Lewisham we had an excellent result with majorities in excess of 400. There had been a history of BNP activity in the ward, which has always been confronted by the Liberal Democrats. The BNP only achieved 10% in this election yet Labour’s only campaign pledge was to get the Union Jack flying over the Town Hall, which they could have done at any point in their last 37 years of control in Lewisham. This was seen by many as a policy pandering to a racist vote and smacked of Labour’s desperation.

In the Swanley St Marys ward of Sevenoaks Council in Kent the BNP took a seat off Labour. Our local party failed to stand a candidate, though one had been identified. ALDC has been told a complicated, sorry tale as to why this volunteer was not then nominated. What is clear is that it was a conscious decision. It was one ALDC utterly condemns.

Even if we can only run a paperless campaign it is imperative that we stand candidates in all by-elections. Not standing a Lib Dem candidate can directly benefit the BNP by as much 5%. Irrespective of whether the BNP has a “history” in your area they fought 30% of all by-elections in 2008 and are fighting 40% in 2009. In some areas that figure rises to 60%. The Swanley BNP candidate is the 5th to get over 26% this year in the ten seats they have fought.

Can we simply reiterate

1.  Always stand a candidate, even a paperless campaign will damage the BNP. 
2. In conjunction with Searchlight , ALDC has produced a publication “Tackling the BNP” which is there to help – it's available from our online shop.
3. If you are actively fighting a by-election where the BNP are standing contact ALDC for help, support and artwork.
4. Make sure your region and regional campaigns officer are aware that you are fighting the BNP. Some have dedicated campaign funds or will commit extra support.

There were two principal council elections held on the 8th January.The Tories held one seat and the Lib Dems held one seat. No Town and Parish Council results were reported to ALDC.

In the Drypool Ward of Kingston-upon-Hull City council we had a potentially difficult defence. One of our councillors in Drypool fell out with the group leadership, defected to the Tories and then resigned when discovered living in Guernsey by the press. Our third defection in one ward in 10 years! Our control of Hull was not dependent on the result but taking the seat back was certainly a moral boost. Drypool is a ward where we have already won in 7 out of the last 8 elections. However the last Labour councillor for the Ward was not ousted until 2007. He was runner up in the Labour selection to replace John Prescott in Hull East, the parliamentary constituency where Drypool lies, and confidently stood again in this by-election.Labour was stunned to be beaten again by more than when he was the defending incumbent in 2007.

Before the election began we had a good level of Voter ID and a healthy shuttleworth. We had surveyed the whole ward in the summer as part of our normal community politics and our candidate was well known for her work in a residents association. Given the likelihood of bad weather throughout the campaign but specifically on polling day we decided to focus our canvassing at the beginning of the campaign on those in the pool without postal votes to encourage them to apply for them. After the deadline for postal vote applications passed we widened our net to include new voters as well. The figures speak for themselves. Of the 940 postal voters 703 voted - 75%. Of the 8400 non postal voters 1795 voted - 21%. Of all votes cast postal votes represented 28%. The message is simple sign up your supporters as postal voters.

In the Bush Hill Park ward of the north London borough of Enfield saw the Independent “Save Chase Farm” candidate who got 24.4% in 2006 fail to stand a candidate. Their vote reverted to the Tory giving them a pyrrhic victory.

There were four principal council elections held on the 16th October. The Lib Dems held one seat and lost one to an independent. Labour held one seat and gained one off the BNP. There were no Parish Council election results reported to ALDC.

In the Tudor ward in Watford our comfortable win was the result of a well organised effort where we “out campaigned” the other parties. We won our first seat in the ward in 2002 by just 69 votes and have successively knocked off Labour and Tories to take all three councillors in the following years.

The Tories picked a well-known local man, who stands (and loses) most years., In this by-election he “peaked” with the lowest Tory percentage and actual vote for well over 10 years. In their literature the Tories did nothing but attack the Lib Dems – despite the high profile court case about their PPC’s vendetta against Lib Dems - and got exactly what they deserved!

The BNP started campaigning in the ward with a newspaper and several A5 leaflets , including a national glossy and ended almost two weeks before poll with a local " Tudor Patriot" before their candidate announced that he was dropping out but he remained on the ballot paper. They got 4.5% against a more usual 15% in by-elections.

We put out our hard hitting regular leaflets and hit back at the lies with rebuttal leaflets and letters. We targeted hard our supporters, squeezed soft Labour and soft Tories with three separate letters. In the last week we delivered a leaflet or letter a day and two on eve of pool including a bring when you vote petitions. The Tories were gob-smacked.

The BNP also suffered a set back in the Dewsbury East Ward of Kirklees BC where their councillor stood against Nick Griffin for the party leadership, lost, fell out with them and resigned. We stood our ex-councillor for the ward and had a swing of 14% since May, moving from third to second only 108 votes behind Labour who took the seat off the BNP.

Remember to get “Tackling the BNP” ALDC’s recently revised guide to fighting the BNP.