To be mad I'm voting blind!?

[MipMipMip]

I believe local elections should be done on the candidate rather than the party. We have had, for five candidates, a grand total of two leaflets. One of which was a general party one. Local papers and websites decided against profiling or interviewing candidates this year. I cannot find any information about some of them.

So AIBU to vote according to which name I like best?

I leafleted from a very young age. My mum was a district councillor. I am saying that it is unreasonable for one person, alone (or with their children...) to leaflet thousands of households so that everybody is satisfied that they are motivated enough. That way, you won't get change, because parties with strong local networks, the successful local parties, will always have better coverage. A positive feedback loop. I think voters needs to engage with the process themselves, but that is an unfashionable view, I know.

All the information about ours was on a county council page - fairly easy to find. Seems very poor if that's not the case generally.

I've been leafleting and I'm not surprised the candidates find it difficult to get enough publicity out there. It's not an attractive job and can take hours. Some of the districts are very rural and sprawling (ours is) and there are a huge variety of inaccessible doors/gates/drives. Plus, leafleting is really scary. I'm ok with the doors right on the street but the long drives, especially the gravel ones, make me sweat and shake all the way up - my heart beat gets faster with every crunch on the gravel and I feel like a trespasser. I have to stop myself from running fast back down the drive once the leaflet is in! Then there's the dogs that throw themselves at the letterbox and snatch the leaflet out of your hand and probably eat it so nobody knows it was ever delivered , the people that lie in wait behind their doors to shout at you about junk mail and draught excluders that make the letterboxes bite and graze your knuckles as you try to force the leaflets in.

Clearly I could never be a postman!

Parish councils should not be about Party politics at all.
District / Borough council can be a bit
County usually are

Only National should be wholly about party

District councils are very much about parties. And this is why. They have the supporter network to get leaflets out, so people feel the candidate is making a sufficient effort to earn their vote.

I don't volunteer because I don't like any party. If the candidates would get together and each be given an area where they post ALL the leaflets on one trip then I'd volunteer. Not sure I'm explaining well but it would work. It will never get the chance to though.

I was going to but then I did and research on the candidates and decided not to vote at all. They were all pretty shit, so I felt there was no point in me voting.

It's not just about leaflets though. It's about having a relevant and up to date website, Facebook page and Twitter. It's about going to local meetings and speaking. About constantly commenting on local issues and trying to do something about them. And having been doing this for years.

Attitudes of it's too much to leaflet everywhere/ not enough support/ electorate should be engaged etc won't win votes. Put the effort in from now until the next local elections and you stand a good chance of being elected purely because people will have heard of you- whatever party (or none) you are standing for.

Tumbleweed through the post this year for the candidates. I voted totally blind. Based it on party because I figured if they were a member of that party they broadly shared similar values. It's not a great way to vote, at all.

We only received flyers from the Convservatives far enough in advance to read and digest. Labour came round with a flyer at 5pm yesterday which I guess is good for 'getting the vote out' but not useful when most village dwellers have already been to the polls.

Think we may also have had a UKIP one but DH put it straight in the recycling.