What’s it like, if you live out in the sticks, in a constituency where it appears to be wall to wall true blue?
Guest post by Rachel Savage
I was reading the Guardian on Saturday morning and I got miffed with the relentless pessimism of the articles, so I wrote and had a word. They’ve cut the letter about a bit, and I’m not sure one of the sentences makes sense any more, but great oaks from little acorns grow…
Sent: 23 November 2019 16:46
To: guardian.letters@theguardian.com <guardian.letters@theguardian.com>
Subject: He may have the wonga, but we have the willpower and the wellies
Dear Guardian Letters Editor,
Your articles do seem to be finding unrelieved misery and despair among Labour campaigners in the constituencies you’ve been visiting (Heather Stewart and Rowena Mason, page 6, Saturday November 23rd and passim). May I put the other side? Here in Gainsborough (north-west corner of Lincolnshire), the constituency Labour Party are facing down an apparently ironclad Conservative majority (somewhere around 17,000) with indefatigable enthusiasm.
In spite of the short notice, we’ve been able to select our own local candidate, and we are turning out to canvass for him in darkness, rain and occasional floods: the Conservative incumbent may have the wonga, but we’re the ones with the willpower and the wellington boots.
Within the constituency, the Christmas Fair in Saxilby village is brought to you by the District Labour Party this year after the parish council was unable to run it: no matter what our leaders are up to in the media spotlight, down here among the (rather wet) grass roots our election candidate will be serving tea and coffee round behind the craft stalls while our party members are selling home-made cakes; all profits are going to a local charity for the homeless, and Father Christmas – yes, we’ve arranged for him to be there too – will have good reason to wear red.
All I want for Christmas is human dignity and social justice for all…
Yours sincerely
Rachel Savage.
Never give up!
Kay Green 
One response to “Do people get put off by negative media?”
This is so true. My constituency (Totnes and South Hams) has an amazingly and deliberately positive campaign going. Many people we never see at meetings are out there in the dark and rain canvassing and leafleting., and many non- member supporters too. They have been putting up posters, phone campaigning, organising public debates (climate emergency with XR speaker), supporting our candidate at hustings and meetings, at colleges, schools with farmers and lots more – social media-ing like crazy and arranging a music /rock benefit. We’ve had a very positive response altho the biggest handicap is that if people don’t think we can win they will often vote strategically rather than with their heart.
Win or lose we will have created a much stronger Labour community, and if there’s a hung parliament, we may need to call all of them out again before all that long.
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