After writing a blogpost about why you should field a full slate of councillors, here are some experiences of how to successfully find those candidates. Like many of you reading this, your ALDC team will be trying to find those elusive future councillors in areas where we don’t usually have selection contests. So here is a selection of talent pools we have found ourselves fishing in for our elections.
Finding your next generation of councillors
The obvious pool of talent we all have are our members and supporters. While many say no (in my case for years!), you have never asked them enough times. In fact, those under-represented in Local Government such as minority groups, those with disabilities and even female candidates often have to be asked several times before contemplating running.
Making people want to run is part of the ask. Keeping in touch with members and supporters, showing them a team is being built, having fun along the way, and making them feel like you are a team they want to join are all required. This can be as simple as sending an email every month, organising a little social after a door knocking session, arranging a briefing session for your local members on your campaign or just having a cup of tea together as you fold and stuff those blue letters. While this takes time, the relationships you build creates trust and confidence. Several candidates in our 2023 local elections in XXX were longstanding members who wanted to ‘try it out’. They’re now running seriously this year.
While for some of us joining a political party was voluntary and a decision we made, many of our councillors are recruits Lib Dems have found on their travels. In rural areas, a parish council is a rich pool to fish in. Many will have found their higher tier councillors somewhat frustrating, especially if they have been in post for some time and lacking inspiration. It is worth attending a few parish council events held by your local associations or upper tier councils to get to know who is who in the local community. Working with them on community projects or finding common causes will help you show independent parish councillors that the Lib Dem approach is very often their own. While this may take a little time, if you find a cause they are particularly passionate about, you may find they want to work with you. And standing for election might be the next step.
If you lack parishes then community, business and environmental groups are all fertile waters to find likeminded can-do people. In Worcestershire we have several target seats where people have joined the party from these groups. And in Chelmsford, their success in 2019 was linked to their team actively finding likeminded people who wanted to take control of their council. Five years on, they have a Liberal Democrat MP.
If you are a councillor now, you will have those residents you see on a regular basis. Either at planning committee, at events or as a result of your council failing at getting something done (if you’re in opposition anyway!). Have you ever asked them to help? Why not ask them to stand? If you want something fixed, come and help us fix it. Many people will say no to this challenge but others will rise to it. They will often bring new helpers with them. My local stakeboard team has significantly expanded after we recruited a councillor this way in 2023.
Have you looked at your family and friends? You probably have a few unsuspecting Liberal Democrats who you haven’t tapped into yet. Are any of them due to retire and planning to do something different? It’s definitely worth speaking to them before a local charity elects them treasurer! Many of the people in your life will see the work you do, and will see the positives they could also do for their community. They don’t know it yet but two people in my life will be running in an upcoming election.
The key to finding candidates is asking. Most people will never have considered running and will have thought that people like them just don’t run to be a councillor. Whether it is a parish council, parent and toddler group or down the pub, there is always a future Lib Dem councillor gently bobbing along, not realising they’re about to get hooked in a campaign to save a local recycling centre or a crusade against potholes. Not a single one of our new councillors in my area volunteered to become a councillor in 2023. We would have been a group less than half the size we are if we hadn’t been proactive in asking.
Finding your next generation of paper candidates
Not everyone wants to win. But many will help the cause by standing in no hope seats. If someone is not willing to stand to win, always ask if they’ll stand as a paper candidate to help bolster our vote share. All of the groups above are worth asking if they don’t want to stand for a serious seat. By giving people the chance to vote Liberal Democrat, we start the habit. Then, when we find our local champion who wants to win, your paper candidate played a part in the journey to victory. Many of our target seats this May were once paper seats with potential.
With paper candidates they may have concerns about name recognition. Don’t be afraid to switch people out of the area they live so you limit the potential recognition. There are also areas where the local party holds a sweepstake to see who can choose the seat where they get the lowest vote. Paper candidates are still part of the team and part of the fun. Others have a little fun with the name combination. I take great pleasure in standing a Mr Littlechild in The Littletons. Again, making people feel like they are part of the team and joining a community will give you the buy in and they will feel more willing to stand. And having some fun along the way keeps people going, even when it is cold and miserable outside.