Comments on: Local campaigning is vital – or no seat is safe http://www.tmponline.org/2008/08/07/local-campaigning-is-vital-or-no-seat-is-safe/ The multicultural political magazine and forum Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:16:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Andrew http://www.tmponline.org/2008/08/07/local-campaigning-is-vital-or-no-seat-is-safe/comment-page-1/#comment-443 Andrew Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:40:58 +0000 http://www.tmponline.org/?p=372#comment-443 Think also about the campaigning Martin Salter did in the other part of Reading which resulted in a Tory MP in Reading East and, since the loss of the Parliamentary seat, the loss of 11 Labour Councillors, including the then leader in May. The result lost Labour control of the Council. The part of Reading still containing an MP has lost 4 seats in the same period and the spread of vulnerable seats before 2005, and therefore losses previously, was equal. Retaining the Labour MP in East would have lead to a similar loss of seats over the period and Labour still in control of the Council with a comfortable majority. Yes campaigning and talking to the electorate are important but it is also important not to pointlessly deselect an MP, split the local party and then lose the activist base because they are turfed off the Council and are so fed up they won't now do anything. It's also quite a bit of a smokescreen Martin Salter puts up about all the campaigning he does. He doesn't go out knocking on doors outside elections and most campaigns are merely concoctions paraded in the pliant local media which fools some of the people but not all. How many local campaigns has he taken up in Parliament? How often does he raise campaigns from his constituency in Parliament? The record is very threadbare, if not almost non-existent of Reading West being mentioned in Parliament. Think also about the campaigning Martin Salter did in the other part of Reading which resulted in a Tory MP in Reading East and, since the loss of the Parliamentary seat, the loss of 11 Labour Councillors, including the then leader in May. The result lost Labour control of the Council. The part of Reading still containing an MP has lost 4 seats in the same period and the spread of vulnerable seats before 2005, and therefore losses previously, was equal. Retaining the Labour MP in East would have lead to a similar loss of seats over the period and Labour still in control of the Council with a comfortable majority. Yes campaigning and talking to the electorate are important but it is also important not to pointlessly deselect an MP, split the local party and then lose the activist base because they are turfed off the Council and are so fed up they won’t now do anything.

It’s also quite a bit of a smokescreen Martin Salter puts up about all the campaigning he does. He doesn’t go out knocking on doors outside elections and most campaigns are merely concoctions paraded in the pliant local media which fools some of the people but not all. How many local campaigns has he taken up in Parliament? How often does he raise campaigns from his constituency in Parliament? The record is very threadbare, if not almost non-existent of Reading West being mentioned in Parliament.

]]>