Political Parties and Elections Traditional Methods of Election Campaigning

Success Criteria – I can… What you will learn… Success Criteria – I can… Describe different methods used by political parties during election campaigns. Explain the pros and cons of more traditional methods. About traditional forms of election campaigning employed by political parties. Hoe effective or ineffective such methods are.

Traditional Methods V Modern Methods of election Campaigning In the lead up to an election parties will conduct an election Campaign. Campaigning enables parties to get their message across, target voters, raise issues, attack and outsmart opponents all with the hope of retaining support and attracting new supporters (votes)

Traditional Methods V Modern Methods of election Campaigning While a party’s campaign will not, on its own, win an election, a badly organised campaign can certainly lose one. Parties require a good ‘air’ attack via modern methods but also require a good “ground war” making use of more traditional strategies

Traditional Methods V Modern Methods of election Campaigning Traditional Strategies Include: Canvassing Posters Leafleting Newspaper campaigns Party Political Broadcasts Modern Strategies Include: Use of Social Media Phone Banks Blogging Websites – YouTube etc Use of mobile technology i.e. Apps Voter Targeting Software

Traditional Campaign Strategies - Canvassing A traditional tactic used by parties during election campaigns is CANVASSING. This enables parties to get their message across to voters ‘on the doorstep’ and is seen by many as more effective in persuading voters than other options such as leafleting. These methods are often employed during by-election campaigns when parties will often bus in large numbers of supporters or volunteers from outwith the local area.

Traditional Campaign Strategies - Canvassing As well as providing an opportunity to persuade uncommitted voters, they also enable parties to identify likely supporters who can then be further targeted i.e. offered lifts to the polling station on the day. Studies have shown that this form of campaigning can be particularly effective in increasing support. For example prior to the 2015 general election the Liberal Democrats were effective at mounting successful ‘grassroots’ campaigns in by-elections

Traditional Campaign Strategies - Canvassing Evaluation of canvassing Canvassing can be particularly effective in local areas but it has drawbacks in that it requires a large number of volunteers or party supporters and is time consuming. During a national campaign, parties RELY on their local branches. Canvassing is often limited to the local dimension and dependant on whether the seat is safe or marginal – the national campaign is more often concentrated on media strategies.

Traditional Campaign Strategies – Party Political Broadcasts Labour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Gm951Nbj-s Greens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPgS7p40ERg Conservatives https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX67F53yzbE SNP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcTBPuPHv-8

Traditional Campaign Strategies – Party Political Broadcasts Party Political Broadcasts are provided by political parties, in which they put their point of view across or criticise other parties. In a sense they ‘advertise’ or use TV to reach a target audience of millions, as most people in the UK still get most or all of their information on politics by watching TV.

Traditional Campaign Strategies – Party Political Broadcasts Party Broadcasts allow political parties to portray their message to the public, their message is not altered or interpreted by journalist or other outside influences. In 2010 the main parties spent over £1.5 million on party election broadcasts

Traditional Campaign Strategies – Party Political Broadcasts However – while political parties spend millions on broadcasts they believe are important…… A survey by Ipsos-Mori found that 74% of those polled would rather ‘pay household bills’ than watch!!! While many people simply turn over the channel when a PPB comes on. Although less than 20% of those asked said they should be scrapped all together! Therefore PPB are generally a ‘good’ traditional method of campaigning in reaching a wide number of people and presenting a party in a certain way, however the IMPACT of these is severely limited, with many voters simply choosing not to engage

Traditional Campaign Strategies – Posters A traditional method of campaigning is the Poster or Bill Board Campaign Political parties usually hire Advertising Agencies for professional advice on how to to get their posters ‘noticed’ or to ensure the posters have the biggest or desired IMPACT.

Traditional Campaign Strategies – Posters Traditionally poster campaigns have been negative or used to criticise others rather than state what is positive about the party funding the poster i.e. 1997 Blair with devil eyes

Traditional Campaign Strategies – Posters The impact of poster campaigns is generally dependant on how the message is received. i.e. the unveiling ‘controversial’ or ‘striking’ posters will often feature on the news The 2015 poster of Alex Salmond (and Nicola Sturgeon) with Ed Miliband in his pocket received a lot of press coverage due to the simplicity but also the shock of the implied message

Traditional Campaign Strategies – Posters However posters can also back fire In 2010 Lab released a poster of Cameron sitting on a Quattro with the slogan ‘don’t let him take Britain back to the 80’s’ However labour ‘missed the point’ as the character they portrayed Cameron as was popular and ‘cool’ The Conservatives seized on this mistake by quickly releasing their own version – which was generally much better received than the original!

Traditional Campaign Strategies – Posters The overall poster campaigns are designed to have an IMPACT by grabbing attention/creating headlines However, the rise of social media means many posters are modified or altered on social media with many variations which can sometimes have even more of an impact than the original idea!

Traditional Methods Although traditional methods of campaigning are still important especially at local level, and they do have an impact (particularly in certain constituencies)… There has been a move to more modern methods of campaigning, which allow greater access, can reach more voters, and faster, can target certain groups and is generally seen as more effective in both impact and use of resources. However, many modern methods to help to compliment or improve traditional methods, such as certain apps enabling parties to target canvassing more efficiently.