Cllr Aaron Jacob is a solicitor, and district councillor in St Albans. He was the Conservative candidate for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough in 2024.
For those unacquainted, Harpenden is a leafy commuter town that lies within St Albans District in Hertfordshire. In May’s elections, I won the ward of Harpenden West, taking the seat from the Liberal Democrats. Whilst that barely changes the arithmetic of the council, this victory matters. Not only does it illustrate that where we put in the effort, we reap the rewards, but it also shows that the Conservatives can beat the Lib Dems in the Home Counties. Here is how we did it.
Firstly, we had to create our key message. This was that we wanted the council to get the simple stuff right. It helped enormously that the Lib Dem-controlled council introduced on-street parking charges in the town which residents and businesses were deeply angered by, and which remain unpopular. Not only is the idea a bad one, but its execution has been equally poor. We pledged to scrap these charges if we came into office, having done the sums on how this could be achieved. We also campaigned strongly to protect green spaces and oppose inappropriate development, an issue about which I am deeply passionate. Our other core message was for the council to keep the streets clean and get potholes fixed quickly and properly. Hardly radical stuff, but effective, nevertheless.
Secondly, we campaigned hard and extensively. When I say “campaign”, I mean that we spent months knocking on residents’ doors. Closely fought wards against the Lib Dems cannot, in my view, be won during the short campaign alone. That is why we started early, with canvassing sessions becoming frequent from January onwards. Whilst it is hardly ever possible to speak to everyone, once we had reached polling day, I had peace of mind knowing that we had canvassed pretty much every street in the ward, with some streets visited twice. In politics, as in life, shortcuts seldom result in success.
Thirdly, when I say “we”, that is because we built a team of canvassers and established a rhythm to our campaigning. We had people coming to support us not only from across the Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency, but from neighbouring constituencies too. Canvassing solo is rarely fun, so it was fantastic that the wider Conservative family came out to help. Mutual aid really does work, and it enables us to share best practice in real time, something particularly important during a short campaign.
Fourthly, whilst digital campaigning is becoming ever more important, it is no substitute for campaigning in person. It matters in the sense that it can build name recognition and familiarity. However, I genuinely lost count of the number of times residents said how much they appreciated the fact that I had taken the time to meet them, listen to what they had to say, and hear any concerns they might have. Broadcasting, by contrast, is not listening. Real conversations matter — not just to persuade, but also to refine your message where necessary.
I hate to break it to you, but fighting against incumbent Lib Dem opposition is not easy. We know that they like to portray themselves as community-based representatives and, to be fair to them, they are not bad at it. But we Conservatives need not be fatalistic about such contests. Where we have the right message, and where we roll our sleeves up, get stuck in, and build a team around us, we can take the fight to the Lib Dems. Where we work harder than they do, knock on more doors than they do, and cover more ground than they do, we can win.