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Campaigning rules have changed due to lockdown legislation, they haven’t affected the larger two parties as much as the smaller ones. So with the London Mayor elections looming in May, it poses the question: Are they really fair?
Here in London we are preparing for the elections for the London mayor. These were due to happen in May 2020 however were delayed due to the pandemic.
In light of this I was curious how smaller political parties gain support for local elections and also wider mayoral elections.
I spoke to Kevin Robinson-Hale, who is the Green Party candidate for Everton ward in Liverpool, and Cllr Sharron Sumner, who is the elected Green Party councillor for Alexandra ward in Kingston and Surbiton, to discuss how they gain local support.
Mr Robinson-Hale is standing for election to Liverpool council in May and is running most of his campaign online due to the campaigning legislation for this lockdown. Usually, he told me, they would be going door to door and talking to local residents.
He runs an instagram account (@everton_together20) with just over 1,360 followers. He also has a radio show called ‘An Hour With Kev’. Due to broadcasting rules in the UK he cannot use it as a tool for campaigning but can mention that he is running for election and also can talk to guests from the Green Party or other organisations to raise public awareness.
Mr Robinson-Hale also mentioned that before the pandemic the Labour Party could afford to send fliers to peoples houses whereas the Green Party could not. Cllr Sumner also commented on this and went on to explain that as a party they don’t have millionaire donors such as Labour who have the backing of the Unions, the Conservatives have many large donors and the Liberal Democrats have support from big business donors.
The Green Party does not accept any large business donations and only accepts private donations from individuals. This means that they don’t have enough money to keep a campaign running for an extra year
Cllr Sumner carried on to say that in a way it was a positive as they have to be more diligent with where they spend money and to make sure that they are targeting the right groups and listening to the needs of the people in the area.
But how has the pandemic affected the campaigning apart from this? Ultimately not much, however it has made campaigning harder for the smaller parties.
Recently the government said that leafleting was not compatible with the current lockdown legislation. Cllr Sumner said that they do not agree with this action from the government but will continue to follow guidelines and figure out the best way to spread their party’s message.
This is particularly difficult due to the fact that the party does not have the funds to spend on Royal Mail to deliver the literature and previously relied on volunteers delivering it to houses in person.
Similarly, due to the Greens being a smaller party, they do not receive much news/television coverage. We see Sadiq Khan on the news daily but the smaller parties don’t get that same privilege.
In light of the changed campaigning rules announced by the government they also said that the spending budget was increased. However, there was one issue with this idea; it is only beneficial if you have the budget to spend in the first place.
Siân Berry (co-leader of the green party, London Assembly member and candidate for London mayor) has called for the election to be postponed once again due to the fact that it is not safe for parties to go out and spread their message so it is very difficult to hold a fair election.
Both Mr Robinson-Hale and Cllr Sumner mentioned that local issues cannot be given the same gravitas that it needs via social media as people might think it was speculation. Cllr Sumner said that when an issue is raised and printed on paper, residents take it much more seriously than if they were to see a post about it on twitter or facebook.
Even with all these issues Mr Robinson-Hale said that it was really rewarding working with a smaller network which provides more support with campaigning.
After speaking to both Cllr Sumner and Mr Robinson-Hale I noticed how similar their points were. Campaigning in Lockdown is difficult and it is a shared struggle with two separate elections, in two separate parts of the country.
