How to canvass with confidence The next general election: your notes

How to canvass with confidence
The next general election:
This time it’s personal!
your notes
Contents
4
Introduction
6
Chapter 1
your notes
Planning your Voter ID campaign
10
Chapter 2
Message and script
16
Chapter 3
Growing your canvassing team
22
Chapter 4
Organising canvassing sessions
28
What to do next?
30
Note space
34
Also available in this series
35
So what did you think?
3
Introduction
your notes
Introduction
your notes
Knocking on doors and speaking with residents
is a crucial task for local Labour Parties; it
keeps us in touch and enables us to stand up
for local people and campaign to improve our
neighbourhoods. By doing this we find out which
issues are important to people, tell them about
the Labour Party’s work, and mobilise supporters
to vote Labour at elections. And the most
effective way to engage with voters is by talking
to them!
From now until the next general election engaging with residents
and building up your Voter ID is going to be more essential than ever.
Yet, perhaps because it is so important, starting a door-knocking or
telephone canvassing campaign can seem a daunting undertaking
for any CLP.
This booklet aims to help local parties get started with their Voter
ID programme; showing how other CLPs do it every step of the way
from planning, targeting your resources, using the script, building
your canvassing team and then how it actually works in practice.
Take a look through the stories and ideas in this booklet to see what
you could do to improve your Voter ID strategy. You’ll also find a
series of tips and checklists you can use to keep yourself on the
right track, as well as, a ‘what to do next’ section to help you get
started.
4
5
Chapter 1
your notes
Planning your Voter ID campaign
Planning your Voter
ID campaign
Liverpool West Derby CLP now has one of the highest contact
rates in Liverpool and gained an additional seat on Liverpool City
Council in May 2008.
Here’s how they did it:
step
Why a manageable Voter
ID plan is important
CASE STUDY - When
Stephen Twigg was
selected as Labour’s
Prospective Parliamentary
Candidate for Liverpool
West Derby in September
2007, he sat down with
his Agent and set up the
‘West Derby Action Team’.
1
Identifying your priorities
Stephen and Liverpool West Derby’s first challenge was going
to be the 2008 local elections, where they were defending two
seats (one of which has been traditionally marginal and where
Labour lost in 2007) and seeking to gain two others.
“We knew exactly where we had to target our efforts ahead of
the local elections 2008, and drew up our plan of activity to
reflect this”, said Stephen.
When deciding your own priority areas, or which voters to target,
use Contact Creator to analyse your previous Voter ID, Mosaic and
other demographic data. This data will help inform your decisions
about where you need to prioritise and best use your resources.
Stephen Twigg PPC
They agreed a clear set of aims for the Action Team;
• To increase campaigning throughout
the constituency
• To establish a regular, weekly pattern
of local campaign activity
• To foster a sense of teamwork that is
inclusive and supportive
• To encourage new members to take
part in campaigning
• To promote campaigning as an
enjoyable, sociable activity
They then drew up a plan for their Voter ID
campaign.
Thanks to an effective and targeted doorstep campaign,
6
your notes
Mosaic is a national database that segments people into groups
who have similar living habits, family circumstances and lifestyles.
Overlaying it with our historic national Voter ID has helped us
to work out the most Labour inclined Mosaic groups. Mosaic is
a useful tool to help you target written communications about
issues to the most appropriate audience, or to help you pin down
good neighbourhoods or groups of roads in which to find large
numbers of likely Labour voters when you do Voter ID.
If you have little or no historic Voter ID to start with, Mosaic is
a good tool to use to pick out more positive neighbourhoods or
particular households in streets, to refine your targeting.
The party can talk to you about the most positive Mosaic groups,
and Contact Creator has selection reports that allow you to
choose particular Mosaic groups of voters to include in your
canvassing or direct mails. These voters or households are then
added to the report so you can target your communications to
them. For further information, contact the Election Strategy Unit
on 020 7783 1356.
7
Chapter 1
your notes
step
2
Drawing up your plan
After setting strategic goals, Liverpool West Derby drew up their
plan. This involved organising weekly campaign activities and
Voter ID sessions. All activities were advertised to members well
in advance, supported by regular updates and reminders, and
giving members every opportunity to get involved.
Planning, organisation and good publicity help build successful
campaigning. Make sure you let CLP members know the events
you are organising:
• Use Pin2win on membersnet to advertise campaigning
activities and their locations
• Phone round members who often campaign each week to let them
know the time and meeting point for your Voter ID sessions
• Gather email addresses from members, and email them regularly
with details of your events and activities
• Hold a weekly telephone Voter ID session and publicise this
to members.
Remember – if your campaigning happens regularly, and at the
same time and day, attendance will build as members get used to
the sessions, and know that other people are going to be there.
Planning your Voter ID campaign
party. In West Derby, Stephen and their Action Team worked to
re-elect the two sitting Labour councillors and gained one of
their two target seats; in the other, Labour failed to gain the seat
by just 35 votes, achieving a 10 per cent swing to Labour and
laying the groundwork to take the seat next time.
Subject: The year in numbers...
your notes
From: Nick Crofts
To: West Derby Action Team
Date: December 2008
s the
s of the West Derby Action Team acros
lly
officia
the West Derby Action Team is now
nation! It seems like no time at all, but
aigning, we
d twelvemonth of all-year-round camp
one year old. As we enter our secon
During our
e).
nts (and one particularly sad failur
can look back at some real achieveme
Splendid Birthday greetings to friend
inaugural year we have • grown our Team to 98 campaigne
rs
re-elect Councillors Rose Bailey and
• helped elect Captain John Prince and
Frank Cooke
ts and direct mail in West Derby alone
• delivered at least 172,550 leafle
• suffered 3 dog bites
that doesn't
Labour Group Action Saturdays (and
• sent a whopping 71 volunteers to
d)
are supposed to atten
include West Derby councillors, who
s
• organised 103 Team campaign event
step
3
Establishing a pattern of regular activity
West Derby's Action Team created a real sense of renewal with
teams of people out on the streets almost every Saturday and
Sunday. Almost 100 party members have joined the Action Team
at least once in the past year and teams have gone to campaign
elsewhere – including the Crewe & Nantwich and Glenrothes
by-elections, and to the marginal seat of Wirral West on National
Campaign Days.
As a result of identifying their priority areas and delivering their
Voter ID plan, Labour made big gains from the Lib Dems in the
Liverpool City Council elections 2008. For the first time since
1996 Labour got more votes and won more seats than any other
constituencies across the country
• been joined by volunteers from 10
aign trail (approximately, based on the
• walked 2401 miles out on the camp
average
of the WDAT pedometer)
ss voters
• knocked on 1260 doors to canva
• sent 55 tiresome WDAT emails
•contacted more than 600 Labour
voters on the phone
• sent volunteers to 2 parliamentary
by-elections (won one, lost one)
ituencies
• worked in all 5 of the Liverpool const
• had only 2 weekends off (May 3rd
end)
- 4th and the August Bank Holiday Week
• failed to gain Knotty Ash by a mere
35 votes (it still hurts. Very much.)
Campaign email from Nick Crofts, Agent in Liverpool West Derby
8
9
Chapter 1
your notes
What worked for Liverpool
West Derby that could work
for you?
1
2
Improving the quality
of your contacts
your notes
Identify priorities
Be clear about your objectives and target your work accordingly.
Your campaign will be different if your main priority is gaining
council seats rather than returning a Labour MP.
The significance of the Voter
ID script and the right local
message.
Think about the culture of your CLP. Make an effort to foster the
right atmosphere, value volunteers and members and make this
an important part of everything that you do.
CASE STUDY - Learning lessons from
the Glenrothes by-election campaign
Draw up your plan
Decide your key wards for local elections: where are you vulnerable,
where will a focused campaign help you to make gains?
Which parts of the constituency should you focus the parliamentary
campaign in?
Which voters should you concentrate on? Use past Voter ID, the
marked register and information on Contact Creator such as
Mosaic to make sure that you are talking to the right people.
3
Chapter 2
To make sure every conversation has the right
impact, and that you have a high quality of data to
inform your strategic decisions, you need to use
the Voter ID script to best effect and stick to a
strong message.
Labour does this best at by-elections; when there is a short
amount of time to gather the most accurate voter information
and relay what our candidate stands for. By learning from our
focused by-election campaigns, local parties can improve the
quality of their own contacts.
Establish a pattern of regular activity
Make sure that all of your members and supporters are kept
informed of your campaign schedule well in advance, as well as,
receiving regular updates and reminders.
Make it as easy as possible for members to help and
get involved.
Always say thank you. A personal thank you from the MP or
candidate is best.
Keep clear records of which members have helped in campaigning
and what they have done in the past.
10
Lindsay Roy launching his by-election campaign
11
Chapter 2
your notes
This was personified in the Glenrothes by-election where our
clear message and targeting led to a fantastic win for Labour.
Here’s how they did it…
step
1
Understanding the Voter ID script;
getting the right information
The new Voter ID script, which works with Contact Creator, is
designed to achieve three key objectives;
1. Give local campaigners the ability to differentiate between
support at local and national elections.
2. Have a clear way of being able to show strength of support for Labour.
3. Have a question that gives us a clear picture of whether we should
continue to target a voter.
In Glenrothes, we needed to find out which party voters were
thinking of voting for, and their strength of feeling. This meant the
Campaign Team could then use different tactics to communicate
with different types of voters. For example, in the final weeks they
approached “weak Labour” voters (those who answered L, 1,2,or3, Y)
differently than “Undecided” voters who answered higher on
question two (4 or 5), or answered ‘yes’ to the target question three.
Colin Smyth the Scottish General Secretary and the by-election
Agent said “a lot of our strategic decisions during the campaign were
based on the data we were getting back from canvassing. It was
vital that the data was accurate, so we impressed on all our
volunteers the importance of the Voter ID script”.
step
2
Agreeing your narrative and message;
giving the right information
Not only do you want to find out how people are going to vote and
their strength of support, you will also want to talk to voters about
your campaign aims and what your candidate stands for.
In Glenrothes, Labour’s Campaign Team worked to ensure that all of
our target voters knew the real difference between Labour’s Lindsay
Roy and the SNP candidate. Balancing the positive reasons for
voting for Lindsay, with attack messages detailing what an SNP
12
Improving the quality of your contacts
victory would mean. Lindsay was a highly regarded head teacher
with an action plan for Fife and was standing up to the SNP Council
Leader who oversaw massive increases in home help charges, and
introduced charges for OAP emergency alarms. Lindsay was
campaigning to be a new voice for Fife.
your notes
Once the team agreed their messages they appeared in all Labour’s
communications; from letters, leaflets, newspapers, press releases, to
every doorstep or telephone conversation.
“With everyone sticking to the main campaign points in their
canvassing, we knew that our message was getting through
personally to hundreds of people everyday”, said Colin.
step
3 Training and supporting your volunteers;
getting high quality contacts
It is all very well having a script and your messages agreed, but you
are relying on volunteers to get the right information and deliver the
right message. Training and supporting your volunteers is crucial to
getting high quality contacts.
In Glenrothes, because a lot of Labour’s volunteers came from across
the country to support Lindsay, there was a real emphasis on
supporting our canvassing teams.
Colin explains, “scripts and prompt sheets were available at all the
campaign offices, and every team went out with an experienced
campaigner who could brief them on the main issues of the
campaign.”
The teams had materials to use on the doorstep to reinforce Labour’s
message, including the, now famous, Fifer newspaper. Also, by
sending people canvassing in teams with one person collecting all
the Voter ID information, that person could monitor and encourage
the quality of the Voter ID coming back in to them.
“Importantly" says Colin "always explain why the task is important
and how it will help the campaign, and thank everyone who helps!”
13
Chapter 2
your notes
your notes
What worked in Glenrothes
that could work for you?
Invite anyone who has not canvassed before, or for a long time,
to shadow another canvasser for the first few doorsteps.
1
Provide supporting materials or ‘out cards’ to the canvassing team.
Understand the value of the Voter ID script
Read about the new Voter ID script on the Resources section of
Membersnet or in the Campaign Toolkit.
Thank everyone and remind your volunteers how important their
help has been.
Before every canvass session brief your team on the importance
of the questions in the script. Feel free to contact your Regional
Office or the Election Strategy team for help.
2
Agree your narrative and message
Before every canvass session brief your team about what you want
to convey to residents. Keep your message simple and to the point.
What are you campaigning about?
Boil your message down to a few key points.
Balance messages about yourself and your opponents.
Make sure your messages repeat in all your materials. See the other
booklets in this series for more information on running a joined up
communications campaign.
3
Train and support your canvassers
Print up copies of the script and a prompt sheet for your messages.
Or you could draw up your own, more prescriptive script combining
your messages and Voter ID questions.
Brief volunteers before they going out canvassing, and answer
any questions.
Canvass in teams, with one person running the central board.
By-election campaign script and prompt sheet
14
15
Chapter 3
your notes
Growing your canvassing team
Growing your
canvassing team
Increasing your activity
and numbers of
volunteers
CASE STUDY - Cllr Susan Elan
Jones, Deputy Leader of Southwark
Council’s Labour Group introduced
a specific co-ordinated role to her
local party.
Susan’s method for recruiting and
mobilising volunteers was a key part
of Southwark’s 2005 General Election
strategy where Labour members
in Bermondsey and Old Southwark
received communications about
campaigning through email, phone
and text which saw their volunteer
base grow to 100 strong. They have
continued to build on her work across
Southwark since then.
creates a timetable which is circulated amongst ward organisers
and volunteers so everyone has a clear view of what’s happening
and when.
your notes
“The roles and responsibilities are clear; I get in touch with ward
organisers and advertise the campaign dates, but it is each ward
organiser’s responsibility to run canvassing on the agreed day
in their ward every month. So they know it’s up to them to sort
out Voter ID sheets, maps and venues" said Susan. “That way I
can manage all the wards, and the responsibilities are shared. By
working as a team with everyone knowing what’s expected from
them, whether they are an organiser or a volunteer, things run a
lot smoother and people are more likely to keep up their role and
manage their work.”
step
2
Have a communications plan and publicise events
“Creating a communications plan of how and when you are going
to publicise events is really important to ensure the success of
canvassing and campaign activity,” said Susan. “Lots of publicity
is needed. I send out an update at least once a month which
includes all the upcoming dates and the contact details of
organisers. We also encourage wards to publicise their events
through their own communication channels as well, so we get
double the impact.”
Here’s how they do it…
step
Cllr Susan Elan Jones
16
1
Introduce a timetable with roles
and responsibilities
In Southwark the team of canvassers move around the
constituency from canvass session to canvass session.
Susan contacts all the target ward organisers to agree
monthly dates for canvassing in their area. She then
Southwark's canvassing team
Susan advertises events through a facebook group, emails, texts
and will telephone volunteers to ask them to come out and help.
“Short messages, that are repeated with all the information
17
Chapter 3
your notes
step
1
people need is essential. Just keep repeating the dates and
inviting people to come. Remind members at the end of every
meeting, and get in touch with people a few days before an
event,” said Susan.
“I do think email is important but don’t spam members; make sure
Introduce
timetable
with
roles andthey
responsibilities
theyaare
receiving the
information
want. My email list is a
combination of all Councillors, local party officers, local members who
I contact or contact me to ask to be included. Knowing it’s relevant
to them means they are more likely to read it than delete it!”
Growing your canvassing team
“Also, remember if you communicate with people then expect
replies! Always add contact details so people can respond to
communications. Reply to people promptly in a friendly way,
because this is all part of the work of growing your team. People
need to have someone they can contact with any questions who
knows what’s happening, where and when.”
step
3
your notes
Run campaign days and weekends
Every month Southwark has a campaign weekend (except in
August). About 40 members turn out to help campaign on these
set days where the team collect large amounts of Voter ID and
get to talk to the local community about the issues that are
important to them.
Ward Organisers find a single venue to be campaign HQ from
11am until 5pm. It’s where volunteers report to so they can be
put into teams, given the information they need and return to for
a break and some refreshments before heading out again.
“Volunteers can pop in at any time during the day, and most will
work for about two hours. Though many stay longer to get to
know other members better, have chat and some refreshments
(which are always provided at the campaign day venue),”
explained Susan. “The social context, the sense of purpose and
the flexibility of timings, so people can come and go when it suits
them, are all vital to successful campaign days.”
Southwark also encourages and advertises for new members and
campaigners to come to a special session so they can be shown
the ropes by an experienced member. “We find this really makes
a difference, it reassures people - knowing they won’t have to go
out alone makes them more likely to come, enjoy the experience
and come again.”
18
“For campaign days and weekends to work, there needs to be
a serious commitment by Councillors and local party officers ”
said Susan. “In Southwark, we have been up-front about this
and the Labour Group of Councillors has agreed that the Chief
Whip should record attendance at all sessions and report this
to the party's Local Government Committee. So Councillors
seeking re-election know that their attendance will have a real
effect on whether they are re-selected. I believe it is essential
for Councillors and local party officers to show a lead and
commitment on this.”
19
Chapter 3
your notes
What worked for Southwark’s
canvassing team that could
work for you?
1 Planning
Who are the people in your campaign who are good at
planning all the details?
Appoint people to organise detailed and deliverable
timetables and canvassing plans.
Decide how early you need to plan events and activities. The
earlier the better.
Campaign team should review plans regularly to measure
what’s working and where things can be improved.
Be clear in all plans who is responsible for delivering each
task (and check they agree!)
Establish ward organisers to run campaign days if not in
place already.
Agree all the dates, times and venues with ward organisers.
Circulate the plan to everyone involved so they can get the
dates in their diaries and start recruiting volunteers.
2 Publicity
Who are the people in your campaign team who can
communicate easily to the right people at the right time?
Identify what communication channels you have available
(e.g. meetings, emails, texts, newsletters, telephone etc) and
decide on the messages you want to deliver and when.
Plan how and when you are going to publicise events.
Include all the details volunteers will need (e.g. times, dates,
venues, who to contact for more info and a brief message
about what’s expected and what this work will achieve).
Make it clear what you are asking volunteers to do.
20
Growing your canvassing team
Ask ward organisers to publicise events through their own
communication channels.
your notes
Ask elected representatives to publicise events through their
own communication channels.
Make messages short, relevant and repeat them often.
Ask Chairs to remind members of the dates, times and
venues at each meeting.
Develop email lists of people who want to receive campaign
information.
Check with ward organiser on volunteer numbers. (How
many people are expected and where additional ring rounds
will need to be done).
3 Delivery
Who are the people in your campaign team who’ll bring all the
materials, give people the right jobs, and will make everyone
feel part of something special?
Develop a check list for ward organisers so they know what
materials they are expected to have on the day. (e.g. Voter ID
sheets, maps).
Confirm numbers of volunteers and elected members
attending and act immediately to boost numbers if
necessary.
Set expectations with elected members about how often
they are going to attend campaigning. Confirm with
volunteers your expectations of them. (What they will be
doing, for how long and what this will achieve).
Ward organiser to find and open up advertised venue.
Run a slot where new members are welcomed and shown the
ropes.
Ward organiser to organise refreshments for volunteers.
Thank everyone who helps. A personal thank you from an
elected representative or candidate is best.
21
Chapter 4
your notes
Organising doorstep and telephone canvassing sessions
your notes
Organising doorstep
and telephone
canvassing sessions
How every CLP can
achieve results with year
round canvassing
CASE STUDY - Rob Marris MP for
Wolverhampton South West and
Mike Foster MP for Worcester
Rob Marris MP and Mike Foster MP
contact thousands of local residents
each year, with both constituencies
achieving over 70 per cent contact rates.
But they still both insist that there is
no rocket science, it's just down to good
organisation and hardwork.
“No CLP is blessed with infinite resources and Worcester
is no different, but many contacts can be made with just
three or four regular volunteers.” says Mike Foster MP for
Worcester. “And we have seen time and again how a high
contact rate and fresh Voter ID helps win elections.”
Rob Marris, MP for Woverhampton South West, agrees
“basically we run a very simple operation; year round
canvassing with a few volunteers, and then an intensive short
campaign and polling day, and as a result we have seen a real
difference in the turnout of Labour voters; up to 50 per cent
turnout amongst our most targeted groups.”
Rob Marris MP
Here’s how they do it…
step
1
Draw up a timetable which prioritises
areas and target voters
“With all Voter ID work it is extremely important to target the
work so that resources are being used in those wards and with
those individuals for whom it is most important!” says Mike.
This is critical because it sets the direction for your campaign.
Work with your Campaign Team to agree where to focus your
canvassing and who you need to speak to before the next
general election, then decide a manageable weekly programme
to deliver this. Also, by targeting your resources on your most
crucial areas, your attention will be focused on residents who are
most likely to be wavering or weaker in their support for Labour.
Rob adds that at this stage it is important that all members and
Mike Foster MP
22
23
Chapter 4
your notes
volunteers understand these reasons and decisions. Vitally,
“those who are canvassing with you need to know what happens
to the gathered information and that their efforts are valued and
will make a difference to the campaign.”
“Our philosophy is not to crusade but to talk to residents, ask their
views and definitely follow up on any of their concerns with
Labour Councillors or myself, as the Member of Parliament” says Rob.
“Then we always go to the pub at the end of each session for a
well deserved refreshment break, to say thank you and make it
more fun”.
step
step
2
Have a year-round programme
By holding regular Voter ID sessions – not just at election time
– makes a big difference to your contact rate. As Mike explains,
“We hold regular Voter ID doorstep sessions all year round.
Usually once a week, and then more frequently in the build up
to elections. Members are contacted by email giving the meet
time and location, with sessions held on Saturday morning or on
weekday evenings - depending on the season.”
If you have a core mass of five to six people, choose a central
‘board-holder’ who runs the session, sending people to individual
houses – this keeps the pace brisk and is much friendlier than
sending people out on their own.
“One useful tip is to overprint the canvass sheets with ‘Ask for
telephone numbers’ in big red letters! So that we can then run a
successful telephone bank as well.”
“We make the calls from our CLP office and try to stagger the
sessions – going over the sheets to do those that weren’t in the
first time. One day may be 3pm-5pm, another day 5pm-7pm,
another day 7pm-9pm and so on. A good tip is to avoid
making calls during popular television events – football matches
for instance, or the final of X Factor”, advises Mike.
Rob’s team also focus on phone canvassing, gathering the majority of their contacts with just five telephone lines in their CLP
office. “We run a session every Thursday from 6pm to 7:30pm, all
year round, breaking only in August and the Christmas fortnight.”
Although they may only get four or five people coming along
each week, the quality of the calls make each contact valuable.
24
Organising doorstep and telephone canvassing sessions
3
your notes
Increase your activity and increase your contacts
Worcester CLP works to encourage their members to stand as
candidates and involve them from the start with their year-round
canvassing. By selecting local government candidates well in
advance of elections they are able to talk to more people and add
a real momentum to the campaign.
Rob and the Wolverhampton SW team also increase their activity
levels in the run up to elections; by increasing their canvassing
sessions and their numbers of volunteers. On polling day itself
they run a telephone knock up operation from local campaign
offices in their target wards alongside doorstep knock ups.
Rob believes this is where their year-round work proves its
importance. “We have been doing this for the last three years
and after recent elections we analysed our Voter ID work. We
found that of the Labour supporters we spoke to during the
year, 35 per cent turned out to vote. Whereas, those Labour
supporters we spoke to during the year and revisited in the short
campaign, 40 per cent turned out to vote. And better still, those
Labour supporters who we really targeted; by speaking to them
during the year, in the 4 weeks before the election, and phoning
them on polling day, 50 per cent of them voted!”
If Rob and Mike and their teams had not spoken to people
throughout the year and identified Labour supporters, people
who were undecided or wavering, or people who occasionally
vote and needed a reminder, the Campaign Team would not have
been able to focus on them and get them out to vote on the day.
Every CLP can build up their contact rates and make a real
difference at elections, just as Worcester and Wolverhampton
South West CLPs have done.
25
Chapter 4
your notes
What worked in
Wolverhampton South West
and Worcester that could work
for you?
1 Planning
Review your current Voter id, recent election results, Mosaic
and other demographic data on Contact Creator. Use this to
inform your decisions and planning.
Agree within your Campaign Team where to prioritise your
canvassing, who you would like to contact and how you are
going to do this. For example, doing a weekly doorstep and
telephone canvassing session starting in x ward, talking to
everyone except known ‘againsts’ and continuous nonvoters.
Agree your narrative and key messages.
Set a regular time and stick to it.
2 Year-round activity
Keep to your planned sessions.
Organising doorstep and telephone canvassing sessions
3 Increasing your activity at election times
your notes
Increase your activity in the months ahead of all elections.
Get all your candidates involved and ask them to build up
teams in their wards.
Review your Voter ID and reconfirm you are focusing on the
right groups of voters as you go into the short campaign.
(Make sure you are revisiting the people you need to actually
come out and vote for you, do not waste your time talking to
people who are unlikely to support you on the day).
Think about doing a postal vote knock up within the 48 hours
of postal ballots arriving.
Plan your polling day. You have to use your data to the best
effect because you only have one day.
Use your phone bank effectively to complement your
doorstep knock up operation. For example, your first knock
up of the day could be by phone.
After the election review your Voter ID against the results.
Did your work increase turnout, did you focus on the right
people?
And then start again.
Have everything ready for each session (see Chapter 3).
Don’t worry if you don’t get huge numbers of volunteers, but
make certain you have enough people to run each session.
(four or five people as a minimum to run a successful
session).
Make sure your volunteers know what they are doing, know
why it is important and are thanked.
Provide training around the Voter ID script and your key
messages, so that you get good quality canvass returns and
residents know what you are campaigning for.
Make sure you ask for people’s phone numbers so you can
follow up issues with them with your phone bank.
26
27
What to do next?
xxxxxxxxxxxx
What to do next?
What to do next?
There is no doubt that CLPs who regularly talk to voters throughout the year
do better in elections than those who only canvass in the run up to polling
day. It is also true, that approaching canvassing as little-and-often, is far
easier than trying to speak to everyone in the last few weeks of a campaign.
28
Campaigning
with the
MP
Jenny
–7783
1361
11am
Both
Campaign
Office,
High Street
e.g. Sat
12 Jan
By email and in
GC notice
CONTACT
PERSON
TIME
DOOR/
PHONE/
BOTH
LOCATION
DATE
Example timetable
ADVERTISED?
NOTES
So the best thing to do is draw up a timetable and start - you can always
tweak individual aspects later on.
There is a lot more help available:
• Look through the Resources page on Membersnet, where there is
Labour’s Campaign Toolbook (which gives a comprehensive guide to
Voter ID sessions, blitzs, GOTV and more), copies of the Voter ID script,
information on Mosaic and targeting, and other campaign booklets.
• Check out national and regional training events, including our ‘Building
a competent and confident canvassing team’ session which goes with
this booklet. These are regularly advertised on the Events section on
Membersnet.
• Get in touch with your Regional or National Office, who can help your
CLP prioritise polling districts and voters.
EAST MIDLANDS
Tel: 0115 943 1777
Fax: 0115 943 1888
eastmidlands@new.labour.org.uk
SOUTH EAST
Tel: 0118 923 9400
Fax: 0118 986 4493
southeast@new.labour.org.uk
EASTERN
Tel: 01473 228 700
Fax: 01473 228 710
eastern@new.labour.org.uk
SOUTH WEST
Tel: 0117 972 9440
Fax: 0117 972 9450
southwest@new.labour.org.uk
GREATER LONDON
Tel: 0845 850 0588
Fax: 020 7783 1266
london@new.labour.org.uk
WALES
Tel: 029 2087 7700
Fax: 029 2022 1153
wales@new.labour.org.uk
LABOUR NORTH
Tel: 0191 246 5276
Fax: 0191 246 5277
north@new.labour.org.uk
WEST MIDLANDS
Tel: 0121 569 1900
Fax: 0121 569 1936
westmidlands@new.labour.org.uk
NORTH WEST
Tel: 01925 574 913
Fax: 01925 234 655
northwest@new.labour.org.uk
YORKSHIRE AND
THE HUMBER
Tel: 01924 291 221
Fax: 01924 290 098
yorkshire@new.labour.org.uk
SCOTLAND
Tel: 0141 572 6900
Fax: 0141 572 2566
scotland@new.labour.org.uk
29
Notes space
your notes
30
your notes
Notes space
your notes
your notes
31
Notes spaceX
Chapter
your notes
32
Notes
space
xxxxxxxxxxxx
your notes
33
Other books available in this series
Feedback
your notes
Other books available in this series
your notes
So what did you think?
The Election Strategy team have put this book together to help you organise
canvassing sessions.
Making Labour’s new
campaign tools work for you
Step by step guidance to Print
Creator, Contact Creator,
Text Creator, Email Creator and
Membersnet.
Cutting Edge Campaigning:
Making Labour’s direct mail
service work for you
Examples of the different types of
digital print direct mails available to
CLPs via Print Creator.
It would be helpful to know what you liked, what you found helpful and what you
think could be further developed. We’d really like to hear from you.
1. Reading about other CLPs’ activities was helpful to my own campaigning
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Slightly
Agree
Disagree
Strong
Disagree
2. Having steps and checklists gave me a good place to start
Strongly
Agree
Buy at the
campaign shop
Agree
Slightly
Agree
Disagree
Strong
Disagree
£3.00
3. Practical advice and manageable instructions are more useful to me in my work
Strongly
Agree
What makes a
winning campaign?
Case studies of successful
campaigns and lessons we
can learn from them.
How to boost your
membership and
fundraising activity
Making membership and
fundraising easy, or at least,
showing how some CLPs
make it look easy!
How to develop your
writing skills for your
local campaigns
Looking in detail at best
practice writing styles for
letters, direct mails, emails
and websites.
Agree
Slightly
Agree
Disagree
Strong
Disagree
4. How would you like to see the information in the book develop?
5. Write a review of this book.
You can buy copies of these booklets on the Campaign Shop, or download a free pdf copy from
the Resources section, both of which can be found on Membersnet or contact the Election
Strategy team on 020 7783 1356.
34
Get in touch and give us your feedback:
The Labour Party, 39 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0HA.
t 020 7783 1356
e elections@new.labour.org.uk
Log onto Membersnet to give your feedback online and post a review.
35
How to canvass with confidence
Knocking on doors and speaking with residents is a
crucial task for local Labour Parties.
Yet perhaps because it is so important, starting a doorknocking or telephone canvassing campaign can seem a
daunting undertaking for any CLP.
This booklet takes you through planning and targeting,
gathering the correct data and building up your team, to
how to run a session so that you will be able to canvass
with confidence.
Other books available in the series
Making Labour's New Campaign
Tools Work For You
Making Labour’s Direct Mail
Service Work For You
Your Essential Labour Party
Campaign Toolkit
What Makes A
Winning Campaign
0391_08 Promoted by Ray Collins, General Secretary, the Labour Party, on behalf of the
Labour Party, both at 39 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0HA. Printed by Elanders Hindson Ltd,
Merlin Way, New York Business Park, North Tyneside NE27 0YT.