This article was contributed by a very active – but shy – campaigner for Conservative candidates in South Cambridgeshire and, at times, further afield.

There’s much more to South Cambridgeshire villages than one sees from driving through them.

And with the County Council elections plus the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mayoral election coming up in May, it would be great to have a few more supporters helping out in the canvass sessions we have planned.

While I have no immediate political ambitions to become a Councillor (or for that matter any other public office) I consider myself one of the more active volunteers in South Cambridgeshire and am happy to help whenever I can.

This can mean:

• Leafleting – sometimes on my own and sometimes as a group, delivering leaflets in one of the local villages or areas.
• Survey canvassing – as part of a group, getting the comments / feedback of residents on their major concerns locally and more generally.
• Canvassing – as a group, engaging with local residents to understand their issues as well as, where possible, voting preferences.
• Calling – as part of the canvass group, holding the electoral roll to advise of names / those not registered to vote and keeping records.

I can’t always make the commitment (who can?) but I enjoy helping the election candidate better understand local issues and where Conservative voters are concentrated, in order to focus our resources.

Simple advice
To some extent we all live in a ‘bubble’ and I think it’s important to understand the issues faced by others.

I’ve learnt to be sensitive to houses where the curtains are closed or where it’s clearly not a convenient time, but in general I’ve found if you are reasonable with people, they are reasonable in return.

It’s always interesting to look in detail at different properties and you never really know what reaction you are going to get: I’ve had many really meaningful conversations with intelligent voters, sometimes sharing similar views to myself and sometimes not.

Critically, it’s been important to know when to bring the election candidate in on the conversation.

I’m also quite sure in most cases it’s been appreciated that the Conservatives have put in the effort of engaging with the constituents.

Canvassing woes...
What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to me?

Actually, I think being given a nip on the finger by a small dog which was clearly not a fan of the first Police & Crime Commissioner elections (I subsequently noticed the dog tearing the leaflet to shreds!)

Canvassing fun
Probably the funniest, was when a small boy answered the door ahead of his parents and looking up at my Conservative rosette asked all wide-eyed, “Oh, have you won a prize?!”

He, of course, then didn’t understand why his parents and I found it so amusing.

It can be great fun with good camaraderie, canvassing as a group, as well as what you learn from the conversations.

Come and join us
We’re not going to ‘throw you in at the deep end’ and I can name several members, who having tried it, now find canvassing a fulfilling experience.

With the weather now improving – how about joining us one Saturday or, alternatively, for an hour in the evening?

If you are able to give us any time, or would like to know more, Colin Barker, Deputy Chairman Political, would be delighted to hear from you.

Colin can be contacted on colin_scca@btconnect.com or mobile 07970 712 636.

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Contact us

You can write or visit us at:

       South Cambridgeshire Conservative Association
       Broadway House
       149-151 St Neots Road
       Hardwick
       CB23 7QJ

       01954 211 444
       scca@sccf.org.uk

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