I’ve written several posts here on single-issue campaigns. The cycling accidents blackspot map. Copying all your emails to Jacqui Smith in protest. Weekly bin collections. The Jury Team (I could sign up to all 12 of their principles though I’d argue that no 12 is redundant – but why are they launching a whole new political party when they could be much more effective as a lobby group?)
The thing they all have in common is that they require information to be freely available and that they empower citizens to voice their opinions and hopefully change policy as a result.
I’ve long argued (both inside CCHQ and since I left) that there is huge potential in single-issue campaigning, for a number of reasons.
The first and most obvious one is that if an issue is in tune with our Conservative principles, we should support it. And hopefully the people who feel really strongly about whatever the issue is will see that Conservatives are involved, and be encouraged to look at us further, and become supporters and then voters.
The second, which is connected to the first, is that supporting single issues which are live campaigns gives people greater insight into how a Conservative government would react and deal with other issues.
And the third, which is probably the most important in the long-term, is this: as individuals and communities engage in individual issues, the fact that they have an effect will start to rebuild confidence and interest in politics more widely.
I well remember when I worked in the House of Commons how much we all complained about replying to campaign postcards (the hunting bill was in full flow at the time, and there were two postcards, one pro, one anti, to which we had standard replies). But that kind of makes my point for me – just sticking a stamp on a pre-printed card is not really getting involved. Making your own argument in your own voice is. And that’s what will make single-issue campaigns work.
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