This wasn’t the first election I have voted in, but it was the first election in which I was reporting on the day as it unfolded. My site, Councilbust.com, is an independent politics site for Southend, and this year I wanted to broadcast all the events as they happened.
I wanted to create on a local level the same hype and intrigue that the BBC creates around Westminster, because I believe that this stuff really matters. I also recognise that the switch from newspapers to websites, blogs, Facebook and Twitter is changing the way we read about and discuss politics, and I welcome the democratisation of political reporting and debate. Increasingly people are staying up all night, glued to their TV screen or their computer, watching the polls, reading the live updates and checking out the mood on social networking sites, and I see the need for that on a local level. It isn’t difficult to set up a blog or website for free and report on what happens on election day in real time, rather than simply publishing one article in the local paper the next day.
People tend to dismiss local politics as unimportant, boring, too complicated and not really having an impact. The whole point of Councilbust is to reverse that view. Yes, our local MPs ultimately do rather more exciting things like going to Westminster and working with George Osbourne on the Tories’ budget plans. Our local candidates, however, make most of the changes that affect our every day lives, and I want people to understand that. There was a startling unawareness in the people I spoke to of the different roles of the representatives they were electing. Many believed that the MPs had something to do with the Council. They do not. Many believed that the Council is a Labour council because we have a Labour government. We do not. We have a Conservative council, which makes decisions independently some of the time, but other times, must deliver services based on orders and funding from central government. Many did not know the difference between their MP and their local councillor, or understand that the ward they live in is not their constituency. They simply placed their cross in the box ideologically, without thinking about the local and national implications for their choices.
My first every day of election coverage was a learning experience, and I thought I’d put together my experiences in a little guide for anyone thinking of setting up a local politics site themselves. So here goes:
1) Stout shoes
Covering an election is like fighting in Vietnam, but with less jungle. Take care of your feet and the rest will take care of itself. On Election Day, I traveled eighteen miles around town, by car, by bus, and mostly on foot, chasing candidates around to film them as they knocked on doors to squeeze out those last minute votes. I chose a pair of terribly trendy Converse for the day. Needless to say, it didn’t go well.
2) Connections
The general formula for candidates, both council and Parliamentary, is that the more likely they are to win, the less likely they are to talk to journalists. For that reason, you need to schmooze them way before election fever sets in. I spent hours trying to nab our Conservative candidate for Rochford and Southend East, only to be told by his PAs, many hours later, that he was far too busy to be filmed on the campaign trail. Having built up good relationships with the rest of the candidates, it was easier to give them a quick call, track them down, and grab a two-minute video interview.
3) Take a friend
In the run-up to this election, I made friends as well as enemies. I really did upset the UKIP candidate for Southend West by publishing his comments on gay equality and equality law, and as a result, there was no chance of getting a picture later on in the bar at the count. Fortunately a fellow blogger-come-journalist had brought with him a freelance photographer who nobody would recognise, and he came in very handy indeed.
4) Be brave
I came away from this election disappointed in myself for not talking to the BNP candidates at the count when I had the chance. In all likelihood they would probably have refused a photo, an interview or even a comment for me, due to a report I published in the week of the election about one candidate’s offensive Facebook profile. The real reason I didn’t approach them, I’m ashamed to admit, is that I was scared of them. In the bar upstairs at the count, a crowd of BNP candidates were standing at the bar, slamming down pints like no tomorrow. They were all big, shaven-headed men, many in leather jackets, and many with backgrounds in security, the armed forces, crime or violent demonstrations. They did not mingle with candidates from other parties or count officials, and tapping one of them on the shoulder, breaking their circle and introducing myself felt like the most terrifying thing in the world. In reality, we were in a crowded bar that was swarming with police officers and surrounded by other people, so violence was unlikely, but I still bottled it.
My advice on this one would be to speak to your local authority’s press team, who will be at the count, and ask for an escort from that team or even the police if you are worried about your safety when approaching far-right candidates.
5) Enjoy the banter
Up in the press gallery the mood was distinctly jovial. There was no wifi access in the building, so everyone was working from laptops with Internet dongles. Dongle jokes all round. We all knew we would be stuck there until at least 2am and so there was a concerted effort to enjoy it. Games such as “spot the councillor who looks most worried” and “who can do the best Tory Boy Face” kept us going late into the night. Joining in this kind of banter is essential for making contacts that might come in handy at a later date, so do your best to at least chat.
6) Do your homework
A nice local authority media team will prepare a little folder for you with all of the information about the candidates standing in the elections, to help you record your results properly, but this isn’t a given. Additionally, it’s not the results that are the most interesting part; it’s who has lost, by how much, and why that really gets people reading, and for that you need background information. Find out which are the risky seats in your local area, and where each party has been concentrating its efforts. You’ll need the figures from the last elections to do that, as well as a little bio on the more interesting characters standing. Get the inside history of the spats and catfights between candidates and exploit those in your reporting; they really help to flesh out the figures. There is something primeval about politics, even on a local level; people aren’t that interested in the number crunching, but they pick apart why candidates lost their seats with an attitude bordering on savage or tribal.
Words: Rachel Charman
You can visit Councilbust here
