[cma-l] Targeting marginals WAS Election campaign and the CR Fund

[Bill Best]

Hi

Some resources below.

On 12 April 2010 17:14, Bill Best <bill.best at commedia.org.uk> wrote:
>

[...]

> In the meantime, CMA members and our supporters can contact their
> local PPCs using the methods outlined below for the three major
> parties in England - we don't currently have the information to hand
> for Plaid Cymru, the SNP and others.

Here are some other party details:

Plaid Cymru:
http://www.plaidcymru.org/content.php?nID=564;lID=1

SNP:
http://www.snp.org/people/candidates/Westminster

Green Party:
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/elections.html

Ulster Unionists:
http://www.voteforchangeni.com/election-candidates/index.php

Due to the "first past the post" system, only a few seats tend to
change hands in an election.  These are the ones with a more balanced
mix of viewpoints among the voters.  In some of these seats, it can take
only a shift of only a few dozen votes for the seat to ‘fall’ – i.e. to
change hands. These are called the ‘marginal seats.’

The parties focus most of their time, effort and money into these seats,
because these are the ones that can be easily won or lost. Therefore,
if you live in a marginal seat, politicians take much more notice of
your views.

So, looking at the results of 2005 UK General Election in ascending
order of majority to the winning candidate:

http://www.justsolutions.eu/Marginals/allMarginals.asp

Some suggested tactics:

a) If your community media project is located in a marginal constituency
(as a rule of thumb a majority of about 5000 or less can be regarded
as marginal) then your Prospective Parliamentary Candidates will be more
open to local representations since the more marginal the constituency
the more that every vote will count. These are probably the most
important areas for CMA members and supporters to target.

b) Is there a retiring MP who currently has a large majority? Usually in
these circumstances the successor party candidate will probably win.
They may be worth targeting since they will be an unknown quantity in
terms of attitude towards community media.

c) You may have a sitting candidate with a large majority, who will
clearly be re-elected, and who already takes an interest in community
media – probably worth contacting if your resources allow so as to
reinforce interest in the sector and gain a commitment.

d) If you have a sitting candidate with a large majority, who will
clearly be re-elected, and who despite your best efforts has taken no
interest in community media – is it worth it? Can you spare the
effort?

This information applies to all community media projects, whether
radio stations or other types of community media project.  Of course,
if any community radio stations invites any politicians and PPCs to
your studios, make sure you invite all candidates and abide by the
precepts of the Broadcasting Code:

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/ifi/codes/bcode/elections/

You may download and amend the CMA General Election campaign letter
template here:

http://www.commedia.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Community_Media_General_Election.rtf
http://www.commedia.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Community_Media_General_Election.txt

Below is a list of marginal seats up to  a 5,000 majority - please
contact this list to let us know if you have a community media project
located in one of these 191 key areas:

Crawley
Croydon Central
Sittingbourne and Sheppey
Harlow
Romsey
Clwyd West
Battersea
Medway
Ceredigion
Gillingham
Warwick and Leamington
Westmorland and Lonsdale
Solihull
Guildford
Stroud
Edinburgh South
Stourbridge
Hove
Shipley
Rochdale
Selby
Reading East
Hornchurch
Islington South and Finsbury
Hemel Hempstead
Eastleigh
Taunton
Preseli Pembrokeshire
Gravesham
Thanet South
Manchester Withington
Wellingborough
Ochil and South Perthshire
Dartford
High Peak
Finchley and Golders Green
Somerton and Frome
Bethnal Green and Bow
City of Chester
Harwich
The Wrekin
Hereford
Oxford East
Carshalton and Wallington
Wirral West
Eastbourne
Portsmouth North
Cardiff North
Watford
Belfast South
Ynys Mon
Scarborough and Whitby
Aberdeen South
Swindon South
St Albans
Calder Valley
Burton
Na h-Eileanan an lar
Colne Valley
Corby
Perth and North Perthshire
Rugby and Kenilworth
Angus
Ilford North
Milton Keynes North East
Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
Enfield Southgate
Putney
Shrewsbury and Atcham
Vale of Glamorgan
Dorset South
Wansdyke
Leeds North West
Falmouth and Camborne
Carmarthen West and Pembrokeshire South
Enfield North
Totnes
Loughborough
Hastings and Rye
Ludlow
Harrow West
Torbay
Forest of Dean
Bolton West
Weston-Super-Mare
Stafford
Edinburgh North and Leith
Pendle
Ribble South
Dorset North
Nuneaton
Broxtowe
Wimbledon
Cheltenham
Chatham and Aylesford
Birmingham Edgbaston
Hornsey and Wood Green
Staffordshire Moorlands
Dorset West
Worcestershire West
Tamworth
Swindon North
Beverley and Holderness
Cleethorpes
Birmingham Yardley
Hendon
Brent East
Redditch
Brighton Kemptown
Peterborough
Sutton and Cheam
Wolverhampton South West
Brigg and Goole
Bury North
Bradford West
Wells
Chesterfield
Great Yarmouth
Cornwall North
Conwy
Stevenage
Basildon
Worcester
Devon West and Torridge
City of Durham
Eltham
Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath
Kettering
Glasgow North
Portsmouth South
Bedford
Halifax
Antrim South
Newbury
Bradford North
Warrington South
Oldham East and Saddleworth
Norwich South
Rossendale and Darwen
Leicester South
Wirral South
Hampstead and Highgate
Richmond Park
Derby North
Gedling
Southport
Harborough
Braintree
Brecon and Radnorshire
Northampton North
Newcastle upon Tyne Central
Milton Keynes South West
Cheadle
Bournemouth West
Dunbartonshire East
Bolton North East
Plymouth Sutton
Tynemouth
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
Lancaster and Wyre
Dudley South
Swansea West
Gloucester
Halesowen and Rowley Regis
Cambridge
Brentford and Isleworth
Northampton South
Leicestershire North West
Derbyshire South
Monmouth
Elmet
Bexleyheath and Crayford
Fermanagh and South Tyrone
Lincoln
Dewsbury
Bath
Vale of Clwyd
Basingstoke
Reading West
Harrow East
Stirling
Morecambe and Lunesdale
Holborn and St Pancras
Keighley
Dover
Down North
Orpington
Devon North
Tyrone West

Further useful goodies might be:

Google
http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/landing/elections2010/mps/

VoteMatch:
http://www.votematch.org.uk/

Voter Power Index:
http://www.voterpower.org.uk/

Vote For Policies:
http://www.voteforpolicies.org.uk/

Best regards

Bill
-- 
Community Media Association
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