I agree that it could be very effective - maybe even more so than in a parliamentary by-election.
In a Westminster by-election, a constituency is crawling with visiting luminaries from every party. One more MEP turing up to campaign may get only limited covrage in the local press, especially if they represent a party seen as a rank outsider in the poll. However, if an MEP turns up in Smeggleswick Ward to canvass for the local UKIP candidate in the by-election for Dogsthorpe District Council, then he will probably be huge front page news in the Smeggleswick News-Shopper and the Dogsthorpe Echo. Which is exactly the media we want to reach for that election! In combination with a proper local campaign (see Basildon Boy's postings passim) it could well swing us the election.
We need to start winning some local polls. Once we have established some local pockets of strength by having small groups of councillors - rather than just a scattering of lone councillors as at present - then we can start realistically hoping to win parliamentary elections which coincide with those local pockets.
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