In the reconstituted seat of Westminster North Karen Buck MP has a tough fight on her hands against a well-financed local Conservative Association. The recent resignation and quick retraction of Westminster North Conservative PPC Joanne Cash in a dispute with her Association chairman Amanda Sawyers has highlighted the divisions within the local Conservative party and given lie to claims that the Conservative party has changed.
Yet while these divisions have illustrated the weaknesses of Karen’s opponents, Westminster Conservatives have one big advantage: money. The local Association is one of the best financed in the country. According to figures uncovered recently in an investigation by the Independent newspaper Westminster Conservatives received donations of approximately £400,000; £84,000 of which was donated in the last quarter of 2009. This allows Joanne Cash and her local Association to produce a wide range of high-quality election material and to support high numbers of phone bank calls from Conservative central office.
Crucially – in a seat which contains a substantial number of hard-to-access tower blocks and multiple occupancy split level housing – these funds give Karen’s opponent an advantage by allowing them to post material directly to every household in the constituency.
In stark contrast Karen Buck’s campaign is a grassroots effort. It is driven more by the shoe leather of local activists rather than the resources that large campaign donations allow. Our campaign incorporates the strategic use of direct election mail and phone banking but our main focus is speaking to people in person on the door and via phone from our local party offices. Karen’s tireless work on behalf of her constituents (she has dealt with the cases of our 30,000 constituents since being elected in 1997) and her hard-earned reputation as a local grassroots campaigner are a huge advantage in this regard. The name recognition and goodwill felt towards Karen by untold numbers of households in Westminster allows our activists to get Labour’s message across on the doorstep. It was what gave us an 11 per cent swing towards Labour in a recent council by-election in Queen’s Park where the Conservatives came second and it is what – with your help – will allow us to keep Westminster North Labour in the coming election.
Donate now to help Karen win in Westminster North
Update: Conservatives’ second place position in the Queen’s Park by-election has been amended accordingly
I think the author should check their facts eg the Conservative’s finished 2nd in the Queens Park by-election last December
Interestingly I have had a piece of paper from both Labour and Conservatives, but only a visit from Conservatives. Seems to go against what you have written…
That probably means that ‘A. Voter’ was out when the Labour team came to knock on his/her/its door.
“According to figures uncovered recently in an investigation by the Independent newspaper” ?? By that, do you mean the easily accessible public information on party funding on the Electoral Commission’s website… ? Hmm… Click Click Paste. Come on Progress, you can do better than that.
I have found Joanne Cash extremely helpful in a couple of serious issues we have had in our street, Karen has also contributed, but seemingly more lip service.
This whole David and Goliath concept is very contrived and rather childish. In reality the Labour Party have been so financially incompetent they should be bankrupt – that is why they are underfunded.
I am not buying this ludicrious ‘underdog’ narrative, and hopefully the voters won’t either.
In the local elections in 2006, I voted Labour. Before the European elections last year, (while unemployed after just graduating) I made a £5 donation to the Conservative party and will be voting Conservative in the next general election. The Conservatives are not flush with cash because they are being bank rolled by a millionaire, but because they have Cash, Joanne Cash. A candidate who speaks to everyone in all of the wards in Westminster North. For that reason (along with many other reasons), former Labour voters like me, are turning to the Conservatives and pledging money to a candidate who has touched many of our hearts already. I live in a ward where there are Labour councilors in office, yet I have been visited twice by the Conservatives and have heard nothing from the Labour party lately. As for the “goodwill towards Karen by untold numbers of households”…. behave yourself. Just because she is liked by a few people in Queen’s Park, Church street, Westbourne and Harrow road doesn’t make her incredibly popular.
“So financially incompetent” hmmm let me think what institution does that remind me of? Oh yes…high end remorselessly greedy capitalism ,that’s the one . ‘Abs’ ‘graduated in’06..look sonny if Joanne has touched your ‘heart’ ,keep it to yourself will you,this is not Hello magazine . Ms Cash may speak to some of the people some of the time but she doesn’t t speak to me , soooo that makes you wrong then doesn’t it,sonny? (oh,and ,silly boy! the Conservatives ARE ‘flush with cash ‘ can prove it too, nyer nyer nya nyer nyer) Karen Buck is a fine MP .I have lived in this ward for nearly 40 years,and you see I KNOW what I’m talking about.
d.mcardle, first of all, don’t call me sonny, my name is Abs. Secondly, you would notice that I said that I graduated last year and not in 06. Thirdly, you haven’t proven that the Conservatiives in Westminster North are flush with cash. Forthly, Karen Buck, in the article above, speaks about the shoe leather of local Labour activists as opposed to Conservative direct mailing. Something changed since my last post, I have recieved something from the Labour party BY POST while everthing I’ve recieved from the Conservative has been delivered by hand by the candidate/s….. And finally, you think you know what you’re talking about but if you took your subjective glasses off looked at it objectively you’ll see that I KNOW what I’m talking about. Alright pumpkin 🙂
I am a member of Karen’s constituency and this ‘underdog’ notion is pretty poor.
I have only received one piece of mail from the labour party (and it wasn’t even from Karen Buck), and it decided to devote 1/4 of the publication to Joanne Cash’s twitter feed. The tired old labour rhetoric gets wheeled out all the time. Its almost like labour has nothing new to say and seeks to define itself by attacking its opponents. This ‘david and goliath’ approach is yet another version of this, along with ‘we dont have as much money as the conservatives’ etc, etc, etc
Perhaps if labour had better managed their own economy as well as the nations, they and we wouldn’t be in the miss, and also not held to ransom by powerfull unions whose dontations now help prop up the labour party finances (in return for what?)
I have met Joanne a few times, the local conservative branch is around the corner/ Her ‘goodwill’ comes from that. I am yet to meet Karen and my only response I have got from her was an email about the digital economy bill. It was unsatisfactory as she failed to grasp the issues such as the contentious clause 43(http://www.stop43.org.uk/), which now only the conservatives are seeking to remove.
As a constituent and small business owner, Labour has their priorities all wrong and I suggest they concentrate on ‘being the better party’ rather than ‘being the underdog’