Peer Exchange session - Inspiring local activists in elections with Vicky Seddon, Charter 88/Unlock Democracy
Campaigning Effectiveness Programme
Campaigning practice – forum for discussion. BOND is running a ‘campaigning effectiveness’ programme over the next two years. Dialogue about what is effective campaigning and provides a forum to share good practice.
Short history of Charter 88
Charter 88 began as a special edition of the New Statesman magazine in November 1988 followed by a newspaper advertisement in the Guardian Newspaper signed by 348 people. It was a protest to challenge establishment complacency about the health of our democracy.
A year later the idea became an organisation, born of public demands. It had two aims - to lobby and persuade within the existing system and to build a powerful mass movement for change. It is widely credited for creating the political mood that lead directly to the constitutional reforms - devolution to Scotland and Wales, a Freedom of Information Act and the Human Rights Act - following New Labour’s election win in 1997.
Vicky Seddon, Charter 88
Vicky started with Charter 88, a local group in Sheffield. And climbed up through the council. They were campaigning against the current system so their views counted more than us.
Charter 88 always chose to organise a protest the day a week before polling day. In 1992 Charter 88 held 100 democracy day meetings to get candidates together to ask questions on democracy agenda.
1997 was the most successful year. The Sheffield group pioneered a new style of meetings – general hustings in which candidates from all the political parties were questioned by their constituents together. 1997 represented a change in the culture.
The danger with this style of ‘general hustings’ is that the agenda gets too crowded and the power of the key messages can get lost.
How did it work in Sheffield 1997
The campaign was not just about getting their message into the party manifesto. It was about stimulating debate among all constituents in Sheffield, not just the marginals.
The national campaign put out postcards to get people to commit to the key messages. Charter 88 did not have the resources to target all constituents in Sheffield so they singled out the unsafe seats to target with their campaigns.
They gave supporters specific tasks to do in the campaign – ie ask an MP about a certain issue and called local meetings to report back on what had happened and plan the next steps.
Charter 88 received sponsorship from The Guardian and having the backing of a national newspaper certainly helped raise the profile of the campaign. Local shops put displays up on the windows.
The main challenge was getting the political system to take the grassroots campaign seriously. The Liberal Democrats were keen but the main political parties were unwilling to engage.
Learning from the 1997 campaign was that the debates needed to be more tightly structured so that the debates were focused on the key issues, rather than general concerns. Several meetings organised by Charter 88 were co-opted by other interest groups to service their own agenda.
A solution to this is to organise briefings, both for parliamentary candidates and for the constituents to make sure they are aware of the election rules.
Another learning from the hustings was the need to find an appropriate venue. Tactic of general hustings forced candidates to engage and made them more responsive to constituents and other political parties.
Challenge: still difficult to get the national media interested in local issues.
Q: Glen Tarman: How did you get people to come to public meetings?
A: We tapped into the widespread dislike of the current MP and exploited the determination to oust him by creating a buzz around tactical voting.
The local press publicised the event. Charter 88 flyered in the streets around the constituency area the weekend before the hustings and tied billboards to school railings.
Q: What was the status of public meetings? What is their value?
A: Although internet development – e-campaigning – is important, face to face meetings remain a key campaigning tool and are by far the most effective way of getting people interested and engaged in your issue. There is still an appetite for public meetings.
Q: There is a disconnect between the emotional / social and the political in the younger generation. The old feminist maxim ‘the personal is political’ no longer seems to resonate with younger generations. Perhaps public meetings are a way to bridge this divide.
We need to combine fresh ideas to find new ways to bridge these spheres with old tried and tested methods.
Speed dating
Two variations, depending on whether the aim of the meeting is to educate MPs about certain issues or to allow constituents to question the parliamentary candidates:
- To educate parliamentary candidates about issues: candidates move around tables with different interest groups. Following a short presentation from the interest group giving an overview of the issue, the MP will have an opportunity to discuss the issue further before moving on to the next table.
- For constituents to learn more about the parliamentary candidates: candidates have an opportunity to present their manifestos and listen to the concerns/ feedback from their constituents.
There could be a web chat after the event to offer people who were not able to attend the event an opportunity to participate.
Q: What to do few things locally?
- public meeting with own group as part of national campaign
- activity in the public realm with your local group
- get the local group or a key spokesperson into the media (e.g. a talk show or panel debate)
- participate in a national campaign
Tips:
1. It is far easier to campaign locally if there is a national profile for the issue. The Trade Justice Movement had a trade justice week in 2005 with a huge amount of interest nationally.
2. Offer people different levels of involvement:
- email the parliamentary candidate / sign an e-petition
- write a letter to the candidate
- attend and participate in hustings
Being flexible about how you ask people to engage and target a candidate is key to a campaigns’ success.
3. It is important to build a good relationship with a parliamentary candidate and be seen as a trustworthy, credible organisation that they can rely on.
We have underestimated MPs up until now. We need to put more emphasis on our Parliament even if they are still a weak route of influence.
Q: Flipside is that if people have a negative early experience of engaging with the election process, either disappointment or feel ignored, it can take a long time for them to trust the process again.
- need to emphasis the positive. Praise as well as criticise the government when they do something well so the public see the benefits of their engagement.
Q: potential obstacle for engagements is how to reach out beyond the usual suspects to those more marginal supporters.
The ONE campaign was very successful at casting a wide net. ONE gave people the chance to have a degree of involvement, either attending a meeting or signing a petition, without forcing them to speak or take a more active, aggressive role.
Need to encourage people to know more than they did and that they are doing something.
Charter 88 produced a basic guide to where parties stood on key issues. It was designed to be an apolitical resource for the general public to understand the basics.
We need to show that small activity can make big changes.
It is important to make sure that local groups feel part of the design look and feel of campaign.
When does change happen? With a new government, the most significant changes happen in the first 2 years of power. This is the key moment for campaigners to push their MPs to fulfil their election pledges.
Field organisers in the UK are not as important as in the US – they do not play as big a role which is a pity as they are hugely influencial in American elections.
Summary
We need to find an innovative way of getting people involved as well as the traditional methods of public engagement.
We must make the most of opportunity of getting people who would not normally be out there, involved and engaged.