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.
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Donate now to help Karen win in Westminster North
Candidate: Karen Buck
Seat: Westminster North
Currently held by: Labour
Majority: 3021(notional)
Candidate website: http://www.karenbuck.org.uk