Report of Election Dept on
Report of Election Dept on the Greater London election campaign Result: We got 2938 (1.9%) in Lambeth and Southwark (up from 1588 and 1% last time) and 1343 (0.9%) in Merton and Wandsworth (contesting for the first time) Leaflets: Because the date of the election had long been fixed we were able to plan the campaign well in advance and start distributing leaflets as early as March. In all, some 23,000 leaflets were distributed (15,000 by members and 7,000 by a local newspaper). We only received a handful of replies. Publicity: (a) Only one letter in one local paper. In fact, none of the local papers even gave a list of the candidates standing for the constituencies. They seemed to have taken the view that, as this “public service” role was covered by the GLA distributing a booklet listing all the candidates to the 5.8 million electors in London, this absolved them from doing this. (b) This booklet was the main source of information that we were standing (but not what we stood for), but for all Londoners not just those in the areas where we had a candidate. (c) An on-line newspaper, the Big Smoke, did a 10-minute video interview with Danny Lambert, our candidate in Lambeth and Southwark. Even though they only put this up on the day before the election, this was well-done and well-received and will be a useful addition to short videos putting our case. (d) We revived our election blog to inform members and others of the progress of the campaign. Hustings: We took part in 4 and were denied participation in 2. Audiences varied from 30 to 100. The best was in Putney, where Bill Martin, our candidate in Merton and Wandsworth was recorded speaking on the Putney Debates for a BBC2 programme on the history of England. Member participation: About 20 members and 2 sympathisers took part in leaflet distribution, either door-to-door or from literature stalls.Preliminary assessment: The result in terms of votes was not derisory so we didn’t make a fool of ourselves. We raised our political profile and increased our political activity beyond what we would otherwise have done. Got our name distributed to 5.8 million people and a useful short video. Disappointing replies from leafleting and local press.