“No, NO NO!!!” said the elderly gentleman, eyes widening in horror as he spotted my clipboard and orange-coloured leaflets. The door was slammed in my face.
As a journalist, I’m unfazed by standing on doorsteps and politely intruding into people’s lives. But until now I’ve rather believed, in a po-faced way, that reporters shouldn’t engage in political campaigning.
These are exceptional times, however, and it feels wrong to stand by in this year’s election. So I’ve headed into my village in the unfamiliar role of canvasser. I’m making another exception too, because I’m not a natural Lib Dem. But all that changes in my constituency.
A quarter of a century ago, my A-level politics class was visited by a personable young solicitor who was standing for the Liberal Democrats in our constituency. It was the 1992 general election and the poor bloke didn’t stand a chance. North Norfolk was a Tory stronghold.
He seemed a bright guy, however, and we enjoyed a school trip to parliament with him. I moved away from the area but he kept grafting. North Norfolk stayed loyally blue during the Blair landslide of 1997. Finally, in 2001 – having spoken to virtually every voter in the constituency – Norman Lamb was elected to the Commons.
In the past 16 years he has enjoyed a decent parliamentary career and become an indefatigable campaigner for mental health. When I returned to live in North Norfolk three years ago, I saw that he was also an exceptionally hard-working constituency MP.
But he faces the sack because Ukip has stood aside in North Norfolk. If Ukip’s 8,328 voters from 2015 switch to the Tories, he will be well beaten. We rarely spare any sympathy for politicians, but how many of us are given a five-year contract, and fulfil it superbly, only to have that contract torn up after two years (thanks, Theresa), and to have to beg for another job on strangers’ doorsteps?
I’m not canvassing out of sympathy, however. The real loss will be felt by his constituents. Lamb’s been pivotal in getting financial support for erosion-hit coastal communities; he’s helped get several hospitals built, and saved several more from closure. His Tory challenger boasts Norfolk roots but is the epitome of a Westminster bubble-dweller, living and working in London as a special adviser to the defence secretary, Michael Fallon. James Wild may prove as hard-working as Lamb, but are voters really willing to jettison a representative with 16 years of experience?
I was worried that I would be depressed by a day on the doorstep. But, as any door-to-door salesperson will tell you, the key is a big smile – and a good product. And my local MP is a good product. It was lovely to have this confirmed by so many people. There wasn’t one person I met who didn’t know him. An elderly lady mentioned how he’d helped her campaign for better bus routes. Another mentioned his work with a local charity. From the despairing parents of a child with an eating disorder to the resident opposing new homes directly opposite a local school, no problem is too personal or bizarre for a hard-working representative.
So I only met one completely hostile voter. I found it rather uplifting when Tory voters were willing to discuss their reasons for Brexit. Disagreements are so much easier to respect and accept on a doorstep than in the toxic, dehumanising world of social media.
The dominant view coming back from the doorstep was one of instinctively Conservative voters who’d previously lent their votes to Lamb. This time some were wavering because, while North Norfolk voted for Brexit, Lamb abstained. Despite promising to respect Brexit, some felt he should have followed the majority of his constituents’ wishes.
I came away with the sense I always get as a journalist when I interview members of the public: that most of us are more serious about politics than is often believed. So I hope the people of North Norfolk pay attention to the voters in Wells, in Somerset: they backed the Tories in 2015 but are now saying they want their old MP back – Tessa Munt, another hard-working Lib Dem.
There is a sense of crisis enveloping our politics that makes us feel desperate. The only solution to alienation and cynicism is local work, honestly performed – by MPs, and also by voters.
