BASILDON BOY

How can UKIP be relevant to the ordinary man in the street.

Locally they care about having their rubbish picked up on time, their streets safe and clean, decent schools, no potholes and safe pavements.

UKIP just bang on about Europe – so why should anybody vote for them come local election time?

This is my plan to make UKIP relevant based on LIBDEM campaign tactics.

1) Do you have a Neighbourhood Watch scheme? – If not set one up – automatically you are a community leader with access to hundreds of local residents with your Neighbourhood Watch newsletter (Don’t use it to promote UKIP – But it can be something you mention in your election address – Joe Bloggs helped set up Anywhere place Neighbourhood Watch Scheme)
2) Do you have a local NHS Foundation Trust – membership is free – Joe Bloggs cares passionately about local Health Care provisions and is a member of Anywhere NHS Foundation Trust.
3) Do you have a residents association? If not set one up – Joe Bloggs is a founding member of Anywhere Residents Association.

Take a careful walk over the coming weeks and months of the ward you plan to stand in. Look out for potholes, broken pavements, lose kerb stones, litter, fly tipping, graffiti, vandalism, holes in fences to railway lines, broken street lamps – the list is endless….. Is there an area that could do with a post box?

Write or E-mail your local Council, railway company etc… – find out which Department deals with the particular complaint. Make sure you get the name of somebody that would deal with it and send your letter/E-mail to them.

Make sure you take some staged photos of the potential candidate holding a clipboard looking at the grafitt/vandalism etc… and writing something on the clipboard. Make sure you are wearing different clothes in each photo – these can be used in later propaganda leaflets etc.

If the Council sorts out the problem – it’s a victory – if they don’t sort it out – complain to the press with photos – make sure you keep documentary evidence of every letter/E-mail or telephone call – make sure you always take the name and telephone number of any Council Official you speak to.

Try and get 5 or 6 problems in two or three roads sorted out at once – then send a newsletter to just those houses – its called micro-campaigning another LIBDEM tactic.

If the rail company fail to repair holes in fences have a local rail safety campaign – children playing on the lines and safety of train drivers and rail operators.

When you stand for election you can list the areas you have sorted problems out in – and hold your local councillor to account by saying I am not yet even your ward councillor but for the last year I have been doing the work he/she is supposed to be doing – If elected as you ward councillor I will continue to fight hard working local families/residents etc… Remember to canvass every house over a period of 5 or 6 months – don’t say I’m from UKIP – just say I’m Joe Bloggs I’m doing a residents survey of local problems that the council has failed to tackle as I’m sick and tired of neglect in the neighbourhood etc…. Mention that your interested in standing for Council.

Make sure you hold regular publicity events – staged photo shoots in local high street on relevant local or national issues.

Try the above – you may be surprised at the result – normally 70% of people don’t bother to vote at elections – don’t bother trying to poach die hard Lab/LibDem/Tory supporters – aim your campaign at those that don’t vote – make UKIP relevant to them locally – each candidate must taylor make their campaign to fit in with the local ward – break the ward down INTO phpbb_sub districts of neighbourhoods or roads and micro campaign in each area.

If anybody does this please post your experiences on this thread!

I would also suggest UKIP members purchase the following books from the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors Website:-

The Campaign Guide
People Power
Read all about it
Effective Opposition
Winning Elections
Focus-ing to Win

Paul Denison

Thats great stuff mate, a very positive approach, not too keen on encoraging complaints about the railways, but then Im totally biased , seriously though that is exactly the sort of ideas we do need.

FuroraCeltica

Some excellent ideas Basildon boy!

Given as I am founding a branch of UKIP in our area, and our local council elections are next year, these ideas will be put INTO phpbb_practise!

We need more people like you, good policy makers. Good on you

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Every great movement must experience three stages: ridicule, discussion, adoption. John Stuart Mill

One person with a belief is equal to ninety-nine who have only interests. Stuart Mill

Stephen Booth

These are all good practical suggestions. If UKIP is to make progress against the pro-Europe media bias, and millions spent on pro-European advertising and spin, I think it will need to be through solid local campaigning. The anti European people need to be seen to be involved in local politics.

The idea above about being photographed - I'd add don't make it all about one person but get several people together in the pictures. That makes it harder for it to be dismissed as the 'lone nutter' / a single individual with an axe to grind and so on, especially if the pictures cover people of different ages and backgrounds, and have both men and women in them.

The problem also needs to be tackled at the other end though in terms of the 'Big Picture'. People are bombarded with pro-Europe propaganda, and things like the passport, the driving licence with the European circle of stars on it, and the other subtle symbolic things. The BBC bias for example. They need something which is continually repeated, perhaps at the level of slogans and simple images but which opposes the European myths like 'integration is inevitable' and 'there is no alternative'. etc etc.

I think that maybe the macro- stuff could be integrated INTO phpbb_the local politics angle in some way so that every level a line is drawn in the sand and a halt called to all this. eg focus on something most people can understand and dislike like European corruption....

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Britain Out of Europe Now !