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Leeds Branch has spent September carrying out three main projects, which have been previously mentioned. Firstly, the Leeds food bank/delivery service, which is making its first deliveries beginning of October. Secondly, the street stalls, which we have coupled with a newspaper sale now that the Party Newspaper has launched. Thirdly, a round of canvassing and direct outreach in the Beeston/Holbeck area, the results of which will be discussed here in detail.

 

Survey and Canvassing around Beeston/Holbeck

 

This project involved going around the local area and giving people questionnaires to fill out, as well as discussing with them what their main concerns were in the area. We had an idea of what the results would be, and the results we got heavily align with what we expected.

 

Residents and shopkeepers were asked to rank five local issues by severity (Crime, Housing, Transport, Waste, Poverty), as well as five national issues by severity (Economy, Employment, Immigration, Health Services, Education System). They were also asked whether they thought that the local authority or the national government cared about their concerns. The area this survey was conducted in is an inner city constituency with the following characteristics:

• Labour held by absolute majority on a 42% turnout
• Approximately 65% white
• Large amounts of low-income households

 

The weighted scores were added together to generate the results.

 

In terms of local issues, two stood out above the rest - crime and poverty. This was not surprising, and more than one person directly wrote about crime and the lack of any effective response, with one person saying that they were advised to ‘keep a diary’ as though somehow that would solve the issue.

 

In terms of national issues, the most identified issue was the state of the Healthcare system, followed closely by the state of the economy and immigration. When the results of all the respondents (54 in total) were separated by ethnicity, the results did not significantly change, with healthcare, economy and immigration STILL being more or less equal as the top three issues.

 

The final questions about faith in the local/national government - every single respondent said they had no faith at all, even in a Labour-voting area, with Labour councillors and MP. The feedback received during the canvassing and survey was overwhelmingly positive, with multiple people saying that in decades of living there, this was the first time they felt anyone had even attempted to ask them what their major concerns were. We are now in contact with many people who are interested in hearing our proposed solutions to these issues.

 

What these results show is that these neglected, urban areas, where most people are totally disenfranchised and have nobody to vote for, are the areas where our people need a complete alternative to the corruption of the system. And it is our task to be the harbingers of this alternative.

 

Plans in October

 

Throughout October, we will carry on with our projects already underway, as well as a new round of canvassing and outreach, and further newspaper sales. Out plan is to hold another formal branch meeting in November. I also had a meeting with West Yorkshire Police to discuss the issues with crime highlighted on the canvassing, and the detail of this will be published shortly, including in Novemeber's edition of Rise Britannia.

 

Anyone in Leeds who wants to get involved, attend our meetings, and help build our branch, should get in touch. 

 

David Smaller, Leeds Branch Leader

leedsbranch@nationalrebirthparty.org.uk