General Election Special Actions
Although some of us might have felt a bit like Brenda from Bristol, when the General Election was announced, it remains a great opportunity for us to build the power of Leeds Citizens and advance our campaigns.
We are running a special action over the next month to make the most of this and are asking for your help to make it a success.
Leeds Citizens is organising meetings with candidates in all Leeds constituencies in the run-up to June 8th. We will be asking them directly to:
- Support our priority campaigns (mental health, Living Wage, opportunities for young people) locally, within their party and at Westminster;
- Meet with us again within 100 days of being elected;
- Commit to an ongoing working relationship with Leeds Citizens through the duration of the Parliament.
How can you take part?
1. We need volunteers to join the teams to meet with candidates in their local constituency. The teams will be briefed and supported by our Senior Organiser, Tom. If you live in one of the following constituencies and would like to take part please contact us now:
2. We need organisations who are willing to host a meeting with a candidate on their premises. All we need is a hall or meeting room, nothing fancy. If you’re able to host, please let me know ASAP.
3. If you are a leader in your community, please promote this opportunity to people in your community and send us a list of people who want to join the team. We want to match people to meetings within their own constituency, so please ask volunteers to note their constituency (or post code, if they aren’t sure), so they can meet the right candidates.
4. For those who can’t make these specific events, but are attending other hustings or meet a candidate on the doorstep, we will be providing a short briefing on our campaign areas with key questions for candidates, to help you contribute to this action and keep candidates on their toes!
We are prioritising this action over the next month as it has potential to help advance all our campaigns. Please let us know if you can volunteer ASAP. We need to move quickly.
Please also remind people to register to vote. The deadline is Monday 22nd May. You can register online at: www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
As much as we seek relationships with elected officials, the most important office is the one which we all share: citizen. Let’s use this election period, through voting and action, to build a bit more trust and participation in our democracy.