The good, the bad and the tour bus: Inside the not so glamorous world of by-elections
After weeks of relentless campaigning on their doorsteps, residents of Gorton and Denton went to the polls today to vote in what is a major test for Sir Keir Starmer and his beleaguered premiership.
Ministers and MPs from all parties are combing the region, filling mailboxes with campaign leaflets, trying to win over locals with their policies and candidates.
Labor was ready to go all-in on Thursday’s vote and more than 1,000 activists were expected to travel to the constituency; Sir Keir visited on Monday in an apparent sign of optimism about the results.
But behind the perfect photo shoots is a campaign team working hard to drum up as much support as possible.Independent‘s In The Room podcast hosts Helen MacNamara and Cleo Watson explain.
Cleo, a former political adviser to Boris Johnson and Theresa May, said ministers were likely to find themselves on a “completely ridiculous” tour bus while others were “running up and down the high street” looking for voters who wanted to speak to them.
He said: “Not only are you on an old tour bus, but you turn up somewhere and then there’s this one guy in the parking lot holding a sign.
“This isn’t as cool as you’d expect.”
He said team members often spent their time “running up and down the high street” asking local businesses if they wanted a visit from a minister, only to be told “no” or “who?” He said they came across the answer.
“Someone running wild is messaging the WhatsApp group and saying, ‘Be careful because there’s dog poop in there’ or ‘Can you hang around in that bakery because we can’t find anyone for a photo shoot?'”
However, depending on the minister’s campaign pursuits that day, the reception may be rather lackluster.
“Sometimes it’s a complete drudgery, no one cares, it’s raining, there’s no one to campaign with you,” says Cleo. “It’s like thinking you’re on an amazing world tour but you booked it wrong; no one knows who you are and no one knows you’re music.”
He added: “This is like the worst album launch ever and sometimes you have to explain why no one showed up.”
Meanwhile, former Deputy Cabinet Secretary Helen told how some ministers were so envious of their duties “of having to go and do their bit”, while others “absolutely loved it”.
He described examples where some ministers were upset about not being able to use ministerial vehicles, but said other MPs used this as an opportunity “to get a suitable loan from the bank”.
He said: “People have very long memories of who stood up when something ridiculous happened. If you’re very ambitious and low enough it can’t actually be your fault, you’ll get the proper credit at the bank.”
As the campaign draws to a close, campaigners will go on a “dawn raid” to take their voters to polling stations “by mistake or fraud” before contacting party HQ so they can decide whether the prime minister’s diary should be “cleared for a victory lap”.
Labor won Gorton and Denton with more than half the vote in 2024, but polls show the party’s candidate faces three-way competition from Reform England’s Matt Goodwin and the Greens’ Hannah Spencer.
Hear more from Cleo and Helen in the roomThe Independent’s new politics podcast – taking you into the world of power. New episodes are released every Friday, you can listen to them Apple Podcasts or Spotifyand watch the full episode YouTube.
