European Parliament Campaign Sevenoaks 4th May 2019
In Sevenoaks it was clear that Remain supporters were supporting the LDs and The Greens in about equal numbers with Change UK trailing the others.
We distributed 450 leaflets ( See Image) in a little over 2 hours.
Some comments from passers by:
Leavers:
- Don’t get me started
- We’ve already had it young man
- We should have been out years ago
- Oh God what’s going to happen now?
- You should be shut down!
Remainers :
- I still live in hope
- Remain will win a second vote by 75%
- I’m so glad you are telling people about this
- I have to vote because women died for me to do it
Quite a number of people, especially those under 40, stressed that they were registered to vote, and keenly supported Europe and, therefore, what SSTIE is doing. A general well-wishing “good on yer” from many.
The general impression was very encouraging with many passers by enthused by the shift to Remain parties in the local elections and looking forward to the EP elections.
It was interesting that there was a clear need for information on the mechanics of the EP elections with lots of questions on whether to vote for individuals or political parties . The d’Hondt system of allocation of seats among the political parties was also the subject of many discussions.
Peter and Michael
European Parliament Campaign Tonbridge 4th May 2019
A huge thank you to all of you who were out leafleting in Tonbridge this morning – by about 12:45 we had handed out all of our “Are You Registered to Vote” leaflets and it was about 5 minutes later that there was a heavy shower.
My feeling was that a large proportion of the public did not want to engage on any level with lots of people saying they were fed up with the whole thing and several declaring that they would not vote again (sometimes they said not vote again ever). As always there were quite a few people who looked and acted as if they had no idea of what any of this was about and really had no interest at all.
Despite that there were many on both sides who did engage so we may have pointed out to some leavers that they ought to be voting in the Euro Elections.
But there was good engagement with many remainers and quite a few people who were probably soft remainers and hopefully they will do the necessary. A number of people were interested in the group and one couple has already contacted us to find out how they can be more involved.
One couple told us that they would be away on Election Day and asked how they could get a postal vote. Our response was to go on line but they are not able to do that. We were not certain of the answer and suggested they went to the local council.
The correct answer is to contact:
Sevenoaks District Council – Electoral Services – Telephone: 01732 227000, or Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council – 01732 844522.
I had one individual who said he was totally for Farage and another who told me I was a traitor and if I went to Yorkshire I would be laughed at by all and sundry.
We will have a new leaflet for the next two Saturdays and if you or anyone you know would like to help out we would be very happy to have you join us. More information on this soon.
Patrick