Aaron Jacob is a former district councillor in St Albans. He used to work in the telecommunications industry and is now a solicitor.
Amongst my many ruminations of late was a relatively upbeat prediction about the 2023 local election results in St Albans. It felt as if I had knocked on every door and spoke to thousands of people. The reception I got was a good one, I thought, on balance. The more I did, the more positive I became, which felt slightly paradoxical given the broader economic picture.
On 5th May 2023, my feelings collided with reality. At district level, our tally held steady with what happened in 2022: we have four councillors, out of a possible 56. Disappointingly, the tally of Liberal Democrat votes in my ward increased, and the overall tally of votes I received went down year-on-year. We were running to stand still. The economic picture was, and is, bleak. Nevertheless, what I experienced was not overwhelming apathy nor even antipathy. Instead, it was a genuine willingness to listen to what we, Conservatives, had to say and to offer the local area. Perhaps that is why candidates’ subjective experience should not be permitted to make predictions during a campaign!
Historically, St Albans was a safe Conservative seat. It then turned into a bit of a bellwether: it turned Labour in 1997 under Tony Blair, only to turn blue again in 2005. The Conservatives then cemented their presence here under David Cameron’s leadership. Brexit then crystallised and, indeed, accentuated the shift from liberal conservatism to liberalism proper. Since then, as I have previously alluded to, St Albans has become a petri-dish for the trial of liberalism in its current guise. The District Council has flirted with al fresco dining, the closure of city centre roads, and a general anti-motorist bent. It is no coincidence that the cementing of St Albans as a liberal citadel has run in parallel with its MP becoming the Deputy Leader of her party. It could be argued that rather than a bellwether, St Albans has become a symbol as much as a precipitator of change.
It is only with the benefit of hindsight that one can see whether this seat is a generator of change or not. For our purposes, more prosaic and significant are the lessons that can be imparted to enable us to learn going forward. With a one-party state at district level, a declining local press, and with sympathetic supporters flooded across social media, notably on Facebook, this really does beg the question as to how it is that we Conservatives get our message out there. Our message here was a notably and noticeably positive one. Of course, there is the age-old question of having sufficient money, activists, and time. But, I think, there is a more profound question, borne of our age: with social media playing such a prominent role in people’s lives, and with these platforms filtering people into their respective echo chambers, it can be, and is, very difficult to get our message out there. What I experienced was the profound and pronounced power of local Facebook groups as the prism through which thousands of people engaged with their community, and the way in which these groups refract the reality of what is happening in the local area.
The issue of how politicians seek to engage with voters is as old as the printed word itself. The medium has always been as political as the message, to say nothing of those seeking to deliver that message. Nevertheless, there is something quite different and unique about this new public sphere. So, instead of licking our wounds, we need to think in a much smarter way about maximising the reach and impact of our message, in order to find that critical mass and engage in a meaningful, constructive, and positive way. That is what I, for one, will continue to do.