Telling stories: Gorton and Denton
For those of you outside the UK, or who don’t pay attention to politics, yesterday there was an important by-election. And it happened in the constituency where I live, Gorton and Denton. Here’s what I observed from the inside, and what I think we can learn from it.
Let me be the first to your feed/inbox with the predictable: “What businesses can learn from the by-election“ post. I’ve watched this campaign from up close and I can tell you three things.
First, I am delighted that it is over, and I can now watch telly in peace without someone knocking on my door, and without having to shovel away the masses of campaign leaflets flopping through my letterbox each day.
Second, I am happy that Reform didn’t win. I don’t share my political affiliations on here but I don’t think it will surprise anyone that a futurist (and not the fascist sort) didn’t want to see a party of regressive policies win.
Third, this was a campaign of stories and one party failed to tell one.
Stories vs Complexity
I think we all know, but often forget, that stories are more powerful than facts. But this effect is amplified when the facts are so complex and numerous that very few can keep a handle on them.
Just take the general perception of the national government right now. The story is that it’s a disaster and the country is stumbling from crisis to crisis. But you can make a very good case that we’re in the best shape in years: inflation is under control, interest rates are falling, government spending has been stabilised. There have been big strides in workers’ rights, energy policy and the nationalisation of the railways - a popular policy across the spectrum of voters. Even if your concern is migration, as it seems to be for so many on the right, net migration is way down.
It’s not that there haven’t been missteps. Choices on tax policy have arguably contributed to slow growth, and everyone is feeling that. The NHS continues to struggle, even if the strike crisis has been resolved and many more doctors recruited. But a purely empirical assessment of this government - especially when compared to those of the recent past - would have to conclude, I think, with a moderately positive score.
That’s not how things work though. Most people don’t think about tax thresholds, or GDP numbers. They don’t study free trade agreements, or fiscal buffers. They listen to stories.
Stories are simple and comprehensible. They often make you feel more than they make you think. And this local election was won by the strongest story.
The Plumber, The Politician, and The Presenter
The Plumber is a local lass. Salt of the earth. Likes her dogs. In fact she has four rescues. Awww. Works a trade - in fact two. She’s mates with the Muslim community too, popping up at Iftar. And she runs, just like you middle class lot.
The Politician is a grafter, working for her local community. She’s from Greece but she’s been in service to Manchester for many years.
The Presenter may live down South, but he knows Manchester, honest. He used to deliver pizzas here. He’s a smart man. He knows what’s really going on. Don’t listen to the ‘mainstream media’. In spite of being posh, he’s one of you really.
These are the main characters in the stories that we as voters have been told for the past month. Even before you get into the rest of the narrative, or the storytelling tactics, I think you can see that one story stands out.
It’s the way you tell ‘em
How these stories have reached us has been as important - if not more important - than the stories themselves. The medium is the message, as they say.
One candidate made very good use of social media, speaking directly to camera, talking to the key points for their base. It was informal, personal, and gave a sense of personality and charisma.
One candidate focused on meeting people in small groups. It gave them a chance to tell their story in person, albeit mostly to people who might already know and like it.
One candidate did both.
Not only did the Green candidate get out there in person, almost relentlessly speaking to people in the area, she capitalised on that activity through social media. If you didn’t see her in person, you saw places you recognised in little videos.
This was backed by an overwhelming level of door-to-door support. Our area seemed to lean particularly towards the Greens but we received two to three times as many leaflets from the Green Party as from Labour. Sometimes two a day! And we received at least twice as many Labour leaflets as we did Reform (who probably knew they wouldn’t win on our street and so didn’t invest there).
The same is true of people knocking on the door. Maybe two or three visits from Labour. Probably four or five from the Greens.
Two old adages here. One from advertising: you need at least seven touchpoints to make a sale (these days the guidance is more like 15-20 - we certainly got that). Second from storytelling: “Tell them what you’re going to tell them. Tell them. Then tell them you’ve told them.”
Repetition is powerful.
Strategy and Tactics
This is not to say that the whole election came down to stories, social media and a tsunami of flyers. Labour is weak, like so many governing parties mid-term. The Greens scored a major victory by securing the early support of a Muslim lobby group - there is a large Muslim population in the constituency, albeit one that did seem to split between the Greens and Labour. And let’s not forget, Reform still scored a significant portion of the vote: it told a story that appealed to many.
But ultimately, the result was not a huge surprise for those living in the area, even if some of us did breath a sigh of relief at the result. The strongest story won.