I doubt that few local election campaigns are ever written up.
After all once it is all over the successful candidate and party are too busy getting on with the fruits of victory while the losers would understandably just like to take a break from it.
And that is a shame because they are the stuff of history.
It starts with the relative strength of each party, reflected in their membership and their electoral success, goes on to offer up insights into how the big issues are adapted to local conditions and finally helps explain how electioneering works.
Back in the 1950s the Labour Party developed a system of maximising their vote by identifying their core support, checking whether on the day these supporters had voted and going round in the evening to make sure they did.
This has been further refined by telephone canvassing and the use of modern technology.
Along with all this comes the humble election leaflet which for many remains the first and most effective way of receiving party propaganda.
And which in turn will be a rich introduction to future historians wanting to learn about the issues, and personalities at a particular election.
In 1904 the Progressive Party standing in the first election since Chorlton had joined Manchester advocated careful spending but were mindful of the need to make progress on a range of social problems.
One hundred and eleven years later those participating in yesterday’s General Election pretty much echoed the Progressive Party stand on “good government” and the need to redress inequalities.
At the same time reading their material is to see the thinking behind the campaign.
Some issues are drip fed into pot while others just keep getting hammered through.
Added to which there is the spin.
Which just then leaves the historian to compare the results over time with the campaigns to begin to learn much about both the issues and bigger picture. So while the Liberal Democrats achieved success in the General Election of 2005 against local unquiet at the Middle East War they could not buck their unpopularity in 2015.
All of which is fine but I suspect the historian would fall on the personal accounts of how each party ran its campaign and the ups and downs along the way to polling day.
We can only wait to see
And that is a shame because they are the stuff of history.
It starts with the relative strength of each party, reflected in their membership and their electoral success, goes on to offer up insights into how the big issues are adapted to local conditions and finally helps explain how electioneering works.
Back in the 1950s the Labour Party developed a system of maximising their vote by identifying their core support, checking whether on the day these supporters had voted and going round in the evening to make sure they did.
This has been further refined by telephone canvassing and the use of modern technology.
Along with all this comes the humble election leaflet which for many remains the first and most effective way of receiving party propaganda.
And which in turn will be a rich introduction to future historians wanting to learn about the issues, and personalities at a particular election.
In 1904 the Progressive Party standing in the first election since Chorlton had joined Manchester advocated careful spending but were mindful of the need to make progress on a range of social problems.
At the same time reading their material is to see the thinking behind the campaign.
Some issues are drip fed into pot while others just keep getting hammered through.
Added to which there is the spin.
Which just then leaves the historian to compare the results over time with the campaigns to begin to learn much about both the issues and bigger picture. So while the Liberal Democrats achieved success in the General Election of 2005 against local unquiet at the Middle East War they could not buck their unpopularity in 2015.
All of which is fine but I suspect the historian would fall on the personal accounts of how each party ran its campaign and the ups and downs along the way to polling day.
We can only wait to see
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