Build relationships, frame the choice, punch home messages
- I'll run this campaign like a job: full-time
- I'll run it on trust: relationships first
- I'll run it like marketing: frame the choice, sequence the messages
- I'll run it to win: voters and volunteers won't reward humility in an electoral context
It's important to frame the choice before voters.
The Conservatives have taken voters for granted. Do they want to resuscitate a party imploding in factionalism and scandal, with an utterly failed Brexit, or do they want to match their Lib Dem Council representation with a Lib Dem MP?
I'll build my brand - name, image, characteristics, priorities. I'm experienced with social media, and will look to build a relationship with local print and broadcast media.
Then we'll build our support.
That means developing relationships - yes, door-knocking and talking to individuals, but also going through community groups, where we can maximise our reach. That could be residents' associations, churches, sports clubs, environmental volunteers or representatives of local businesses. People are far more willing to vote for candidates they know and trust.
From those relationships - and my listening - I'll find the right hyper-local campaigns to champion. Naturally, a strong relationship with the Council Group will inform those choices.
Without need of employment before the election, I can devote enough time to build this campaign - to put us in a position to pounce when the election is called.
And it's going to be hard work. I remember directing and producing a 35mm short film at the same time as leading a team of researchers briefing MPs on the Iraq War, while covering international legal aspects myself. So I can handle workload. More recently, I combined amending the Mayor's Budget with Tom Brake's campaign for European Movement Chair, with the onset of a PPC campaign elsewhere. Writing five speeches and a set of oral questions in a day (22 February) is the kind of improbable challenge on which I thrive.
#pb4mp