Week Fourteen: Easter is not a holiday

Monday, April 6th, 2009

With the end of the Lent Term and the arrival of the Easter holidays, too many young conservative activists see that as the end of their activities until freshers’ week in the autumn. Simply because the students’ union quietens down as students have dissertations to finish and exams to revise for, this does not mean that an activist should relax.

On the contrary, the presumption of downtime is an opportunity for young conservatives to become even more active while our opponents take their feet off the pedals.

During the Easter holidays, consider the five following steps:

1. Plan for a Summer Ball or Party – your plans in this regard may already be well advanced. An end of year/graduation social event, after the end of exams, is an essential part of any decent programme. If you want a speaker for the event, contact Christian May at christian@ybf.org.uk.

2. Plan ahead for next academic year – all too often too little is done in terms of inviting speakers to debates or speaker meetings until the autumn itself. The earlier you contact speakers, the more likely it is that they will be free to come. Arrange for YBF to visit your campus for a campaign or media training workshop. Look into the finances and activities of your university and students’ union. Search for newsworthy waste or extremist and politically correct courses or syllabuses.

3. Sort out your admin – the Easter vacation is a good opportunity for you to ensure that your branch or group’s administration is all in order. Chase unpaid subscriptions. Seek to persuade people to renew their membership or increase their involvement in the months ahead. Plan the succession. Be ready for a marked increase in membership in the autumn.

4. Focus on the elections – this June sees both the European elections and a myriad of local authority battles. The elections are a great opportunity for activists to get first hand experience in how to campaign effectively. Just because the elections are in early June doesn’t mean you can use exams as an excuse for not helping out. Going for a walk and delivering leaflets needn’t take more than an hour or two. Helping on polling day likewise shouldn’t turn a 2.1 into a 2.2.

5. Work on campaigns – campaigns such as YBF’s Support Our Troops campaign or the EU Awareness campaign are more than just a matter of putting up posters. Table motions for debate. Get signatures for a petition. Protest. Hold a media-friendly stunt. Write an article, feature or letter for publication in the students’ union newspaper. Appear on the student radio or television channel to discuss politics. None of these activities will take long and with forward planning and ingenuity you can obtain good local and student print or broadcast media coverage by latching onto a national news story and giving it a local or student angle.

Dissertations and exams provide a great excuse – indeed a reason – why many activists consider they cannot be active after Easter and into the summer. These five straightforward steps show you how to be active within the confines of your academic commitments in the coming weeks.