Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Campaign Diary; Day 19 - the case of the disappearing poster board

Monday evening, and time for Martin, my agent, and I to get some photos taken for the final leaflet. Some typical pictures of the candidate at well-known landmarks in the villages, including one that we didn't use in the end, of me pointing at a big hole in the road (for those who don't know these things, there is a standing joke amongst Liberal Democrats that a leaflet isn't properly Liberal Democrat without a picture of the candidate pointing at something).

A poster board. Not one of mine,
but very nice all the same...
We were in Barking, taking a picture of me next to the new council housing being built, when I noticed out of the corner of my eye that a Green Party poster board that had been there was being taken down.

Curious, I wandered over to the man who was doing it. Apparently, he had been canvassed by a Green Party activist, but hadn't intended to grant them permission to put the sign up. He assumed that they had been confused. It does happen, especially when you're enthusiastic and you want to be liked.

It goes to show how important it is to get people's permission before you put your sign up. Posters should be given to people to put in their windows if they want to, especially as people are often wary of showing their political allegiances too visibly. The same goes for poster boards.

It also takes quite a lot of effort to find sites for poster boards, and to put them up, and is better as part of your planning in advance of a campaign, rather than having to do is during the final four weeks. To be honest, we focused on meeting people and delivering leaflets.

Only time will tell if we were right...

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