Politics

What exactly does a political activist do?

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Let us start with the basics. The Conservative party is currently the main party of opposition in the United Kingdom. We are also the oldest and most successful political party in Great Britain. Yet we have been out of power since 1997.

We lost in 1997 because we were seen as out of touch with the public. We had been in power since 1979 and, as with any government, the public had grown bored. They wanted something new and were swept away with the promises of New Labour. Promises that have now seen to be based on spin, but that were believed by many in 1997. Since then we have suffered two more election defeats, although we have cut down Labour's majority and become the largest party in local government and in the European parliament.

With a few legal exceptions, almost anyone can be a member of a political party. But there is a huge difference between being a member (like 300,000 people are) and being an activist.

Members do not have to do anything. By paying £15 a year (£3 for under 22's) they are already contributing to the party, providing much needed funds towards the winning of elections. But many chose to do more. They join the party because they want it to win. For the very same reason many go out and help it in a number of other ways:

Leafletting.

Canvassing (asking how people will vote, either at their door, over the phone, or using surveys).

Putting up a poster at election time.

Holding house meetings, where neighbours are invited to meet a candidate.

Fundraising by helping to organise social events and appeals to raise money.

Standing themselves (usually for council, but also for other positions of responsibility such as school governors).

Joining letter writing circles, getting mentions in the media.

Assisting on photo shoots and celebrity visits as part of the crowd.

Those are most of the obvious ones. But why do we do these things? Surely the national policies dictate a result, not to mention the media coverage?

Wrong!

People vote for the person who they think will do the most for them. That's human nature after all. So, if the Conservative candidate, at whatever level, is the one who organised the litterpick next to your house, helped sort out your daughter's problems at school or just spent 20 minutes on your doorstep listening to all of your problems, you are more likely to vote for them. It works. I've seen rock solid opposition wards go Conservative because of a hard fought, pro-active local issue campaign and vice-versa.

Politics is about listening to people. Politics is about being seen to campaign on the issues that matter to them in their local area. And don't forget, it's usually our local area as well: we do have some self interest in going about doing this! In general, people get involved in politics because in their own way they want to make the world a better place. That might mean stopping a by-pass, protesting against a war or just getting the drains in the neighbourhood cleaned. It doesn't have to be big things that annoy us, after all.

We campaign ourselves into the ground. We stuff envelopes for hours on end, that most people only glance at on the way to the bin when they arrive through their doors. We try and make things as personal as possible: hand written envelopes (and on occasion letters), personal telephone calls from the candidate, house visits, single issue leaflets to cover just one or two streets.

Why do we do this? We work for change. Positive change. We don't always succeed, but at least we try.


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