Operation Doorstep: Mandatory canvassing sessions imposed for Kettering tories wishing to stand in unitary elections

The canvassing order from the Kettering Conservative association has not gone down well with many members

By Sarah Ward

Philip Hollobone wants local members to dedicate a lot of time to canvassing. (UK Gov photo)

Members of Kettering Constituency Conservative Association are being threatened with not making the cut for the 2025 council elections, if they do not give their time to thirty canvassing sessions.

The Operation Doorstep order was dispatched earlier this month by MP Philip Hollobone and deputy chair of the association Ash Davies, who told members they would have to knock doors on Saturdays and Sundays if they wanted to be eligible to stand in the May 2025 unitary election. 

Disgruntled members have told NN Journal they feel the move is being driven by the MP’s concerns about the forthcoming general election, in which it is a real possibility that he could lose for the first time since becoming MP in 2005. In 2019 he won comfortably, with a 17,000 plus majority, however political forecasting website Electoral Calculus is predicting Labour has a 77 per cent chance of winning the seat. A date for the general election has not been set as yet, but PM Rishi Sunak has hinted it will be after May.

Operation Doorstep is the first time such a draconian order regarding canvassing has been imposed say Kettering members.

Phillip Hollobone, has denied the order has come from him and said instead it was a ‘collective decision’ following a consensus.

He said:

“It is not me telling them. It is a decision by the local Conservative party.
“Campaigning is hard work, that is certainly true. But if you don’t campaign, you don’t win elections.”

The email recently sent to members of the association said:

“We need all hands on deck to contest what is going to be a challenging set of elections for our party - however our tried and tested formula of knocking on every door and speaking to every resident has worked before. With your support we can achieve victory again.”

After asking people to indicate a preference for which council seat they would like to contest, it says:

“By standing for election there is an expectation that all candidates will support the upcoming campaigns by actively canvassing and leafleting. Candidates wishing to stand for NNC [North Northamptonshire Council] will need to have attended a minimum of 30 Operation Doorstep sessions to be able to go forward for candidate approval in the first wave.”

The email goes on to say members who find the weekend sessions inconvenient, can knock on doors during the week. Every 75 doors knocked counts as one operation doorstep and will be accredited. According to this formula, members would have to knock on 2,250 doors in order to make the cut to stand for a Kettering unitary seat. The unitary council is run by the Conservatives, who have 54 councillors, with Labour the second largest group with 16 unitary councillors.

One source said:

“Many councillors are dissatisfied with MP Hollobone's demands, particularly his requirement for prospective council candidates for the 2025 election to participate in at least 30 canvassing sessions. During a meeting in the second week of February, numerous members expressed their discontent. The sentiment among most attendees of the meeting is one of dissatisfaction with the MP, and despite some agreeing to canvass, they are privately urging people not to vote for him.”

Another said:

“He [Hollobone] is trying to get people knocking on doors. He must be really nervous, as this is his livelihood. But I don’t think this is treating people in the right way. It is more of the stick approach than the carrot.”

There are tensions within local Conservative circles, with many unhappy about national politics and aware the party could face a battering at the general election. The drubbing of Conservative Helen Harrison in the recent Wellingborough byelection has also made many realise that the Tory hold over the county is weakening. Helen Harrison had found it hard to get local conservative members to go out canvassing with her and was totally out gunned by the Labour campaigners. 

Helen Harrison on byelection night

Rothwell councillor Mark Spendlove, received the Operation Doorstep email and said he just smiled. He, along with four other town council members left the party altogether this week in protest about local and national politics.

As a farmer he says he does not have the time to door knock during the spring as that is usually calving time.

He said:

“It is not unreasonable to say folks locally view it as a waste of time. I would be of the view that not many Conservative MPs will get returned to Westminster.”

Cllr Cedwien Brown, is a unitary and town councillor, who this week left the party after being told she had to vote for plans to turn a green space in Rothwell into a temporary traveller site. She will now sit on the councils as an independent. 

She said:

“I think canvassing is ramping up because there is a fear he [Hollobone] is not going to be re-elected. I cannot commit to that amount of time - I am a sitting councillor on two councils and I also work.

“People have families and other commitments at weekends, so to ask people to do this is inconsiderate.

“My personal opinion is that it is also too soon. A general election has not been called yet.”

Cllr Brown (centre) with Cllr Jim Hakewill (left) and Cllr Smyth

She said following her resignation she had received an email from leader of North Northamptonshire Council Jason Smithers, saying she and fellow deserter Joseph Smyth should  resign so a byelection can be held. She does not intend to.