Candidate Campaigns on a Soapbox To Give Her Message to Guildford

Published on: 2 May, 2015
Updated on: 6 May, 2015

Kelly Marie Blundell campaigning in Guildford High Street this morning (May 2).

It worked for John Major so why not Kelly-Marie Blundell the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Guildford?

Low-tech – soap box and a megaphone.

Soapbox campaigning was the traditional, direct way of getting a political message to ordinary people. And with the favourite, Anne Milton the Conservative candidate, attracting odds of 250/1 on* (that’s just one pound returned for every £250 wagered) Kelly-Marie seems to have some ground to make up.

Reaction from the passing shoppers was mixed. The majority, whose attention span had perhaps been exhausted by the extensive media coverage, hurried by without pausing to listen and no one was gathering around or asking questions.

But only of the half dozen spoken to by The Guildford Dragon NEWS said they disapproved. Laban Dearden said: “I have no problem with this traditional style of campaigning although she could do with a bigger microphone.

“I think the media presentation of the election has been generally good and I am encouraged to see that some younger people are engaged. The BBC does seem quite left-wing though.

One woman said: I admire her. It takes some guts for a woman to stand there and campaign like that.

But one male shopper thought the old-fashioned method had had its day. He said: “I get my information from the internet.”

33-year-old Kelly Mairie is not just relying on her soap box though. A relatively young candidate, she is well used to utilising social media too, including Twitter and Facebook.

* Odds quoted by Ladbrokes online

Click here to see interviews with all Guildford’s Parliamentary candidates.