Since I joined the Labour party, the only thing I’ve been asked to do during campaigns is deliver leaflets. It feels like a big waste of time and it must put a lot of people off getting involved.
If we want to attract new members we need to get them involved in inspiring campaigns, not use them as unpaid postmen.
I’m really sorry that no-one took the time to explain why what you’re doing in putting round leaflets is so valuable.
For much of the last election campaign, we knew that if we relied on a national message, we lost. Therefore continual reinforcement of the (Local MP/Candidate) is on your side in (constituency) was particularly vital. This was especially so given that the Tories and Lib Dems were putting round nationally-templated literature, often on national messages, and much of the local press is either a hollowed-out relic or hostile to us.
Leafletting is deeply tedious – I hate it myself! – but it’s the key work of the campaign, alongside doorstep voter ID, and to a lesser extent, telephone voter ID. I’m sorry there weren’t other opportunities to contribute in your seat. And in case no-one has said it: thank you. People like you who deliver uncomplainingly to their street or neighbourhood are the backbone of our campaign. I hope you at least had the satisfaction of seeing a good result locally.
Bella, spot-on about the need for campaigns to be local. But talking to people is so much more effective than shoving leaflets through the letter box anonymously. Leafletting is a waste of time when instead, members could be developing face-to-face relationships with voters.