With over thirty-five years experience, seven parliamentary elections and almost 2,000 local council candidates under his belt, Andrew Kennedy is one of the country’s most experienced campaigners.
Andrew Kennedy
Political Campaigning and Strategic Consultant
With over thirty-five years experience, seven parliamentary elections and almost 2,000 local council candidates under his belt, Andrew Kennedy is one of the country’s most experienced campaigners.
Throughout his career Andrew has led the field in adopting innovative campaign techniques, whilst holding firm to the view that elections are won through a very simple process; finding your supporters and getting them to vote.
He was one of the first Conservative agents to use telephone canvassing in the UK; co-authoring the training pamphlet “Ringing the Changes” in the late 1980s. He also pioneered postal surveys and most recently personalised election literature with the message changing from house-to-house and street-to-street.
This innovative approach tied to traditional and proven election-winning principles has resulted in election results which have consistently exceeded the county, regional and nation-wide averages.
Andrew’s abilities don’t just apply to elections. He has a strong record in fundraising, activist and volunteer recruitment, training and development, maximising incumbency and research.
In 2012 Andrew was one of the principal architects of the West Kent Conservative Group, bringing together three strong and successful Associations into one Grouping. The group has subsequently increased to six Associations with two more investigating their options.
Andrew is probably best known through his campaign blog Voting and Boating and his regular columns on the Conservative Home website, in which he shares best practice and his views of campaigning and party reform.
Since September 2017 Andrew has been working part time for West Kent whilst developing his own consultancy, offering an opportunity for others to share his experience.
Whether you are an Association looking to build your team, a Council/Group Leader looking to win the next local election, an MP seeking to maximise your incumbency or a candidate looking for independent campaign advice and support, Andrew can almost certainly help.
Endorsements
“Andrew is free-thinking and his approach to campaigning and changing the ‘tired’ way we might do things is not only refreshing, but heartening. I would have no hesitation in working with him, for him, or seeking his wise counsel on any issue at anytime and would recommend his sound advice to anyone."
"Andrew ran my 2017 Parliamentary Campaign and my association had no hesitation to use his services again for the 2019 district elections. Andrew is one of those rare people who doesn't just tell people what to do, but takes the time to explain why they are doing it, and the difference it makes. He manages to combine forensic attention to detail while making politics and campaigning fun."
"Under Andrew's expert guidance and strategic support, Bexley Conservatives achieved one of the strongest performances in London in 2018, winning all of our target wards and even extending gains into seats Labour believed they would win. He delivered everything he said that he would, on time, within budget and with good humour."
Campaigning Services
How I Can Help
Whether you are an Association Officer looking for help or support, a Member of Parliament seeking to maximise your incumbency, a candidate in search of independent campaign advice or a Conservative Group Leader looking to gain or retain control, I believe I have the experience to help you win.
It is a great honour to have helped set-up and run the West Kent Group of Conservative Associations, and I look forward to my continued involvement in the years ahead. However it is fair to say that the next election will not be won or lost in the leafy suburbs of Kent.
I have launched this consultancy to offer help and support to those Associations and candidates who might not have the benefit of a campaign professional.
Whilst I need to earn a living, my charges and fees are set at a very reasonable rate.
The next election will not be the same contest between Right and Left, it will be a fight for the heart and soul of our wonderful country, in which the traditional values of decency, free enterprise, economic stability and strong defence will be pitted against an extreme Labour Party driven by Marxist ideology, determined to undermine everything we stand for.
If I can help “level the playing field” and provide you with the tools you need to win, I will have achieved my goal.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if I can help.
Each year we lose candidates and often incumbent councillors due to incorrectly submitted nomination papers or missed deadlines. Legal challenges to election expenses are increasingly common. It is little wonder that volunteers are reticent about taking on this task, resulting in councillors and candidates spending too much time on administration when they should be campaigning.
On a limited and case by case basis, I am prepared to take on this role for your Association or Group. I will only accept this work if I am confident my other commitments will allow me to spend the necessary time on your campaign. I will also give priority to target councils where we might lose (or gain) control, rather than safe councils where our majority is not under threat.
My basic service is charged at £150 per candidate, with a minimum charge of £3,000 (or 20 candidates). This is invoiced in two tranches: £75 per candidate in early March for research and preparatory work and £75 per candidate in April for my election-specific work. This will result in only £75 per candidate being a declarable election expense.
My basic package of support includes
- General advice and assistance on candidate recruitment
- A half-day “Campaign Conference” for all candidates and key activists, with sessions on: - Nomination papers/legal
- Nomination papers, advice, checking and submission
- General advice / design and production of: - Main election leaflet (including co-ordinating candidates’ local contributions)
- Preparation and submission of election expenses
- Detailed research on policy and residents’ perceptions of performance
- Focus Groups
- Assistance with identifying target wards and building a target ward strategy
- Pre-election newsletters and communications
- Running a postal vote recruitment campaign (target wards or council-wide)
- Knock-Drop-Collect survey canvassing or traditional issue/VI surveys
- Effective campaigning and Voter ID
- Get Out The Vote (GOTV) and Got Out The Postal Vote (GOTPV)
- Social media (nb: fee includes conference and speakers but not venue hire or any refreshments provided)
- Calling cards / SYWO card for candidates
- GOTPV and GOTV material
-Good Morning / Time is Running Out leaflets
(nb: fee includes help and support with production and design. Cost of printing extra, this can be done locally or I can manage the print via my print partners in Kent)
Additional services
In addition to the above all-inclusive package of support, additional specialist projects may be commissioned for an additional fee. These include:
Key to this is control of the message and timing. In both 2015 and 2017 my experience negotiating with printers and Royal Mail along with my data management skills gave our local West Kent candidates the confidence to opt out of the CCHQ print package, resulting in 100% local literature content and different leaflets with targeted messages going to young voters, older voters, female voters and male voters at five-day intervals during the last three weeks of the campaign.
The following is a sample of the projects I can assist you with:
Maximising Incumbency
To maximise your incumbency I am able to assist with design, production and fulfilment with the following projects:
- 18th Birthday cards
- MP/Candidate newsletters (either stand-alone or shared with local councillors to reduce cost)
- New Year Calendar Cards
- Targeted Residents’ Surveys (by geography, demography, age, gender or issue-specific)
- Petitions and community action projects
- General advice and guidance to maximise effectiveness
- Launching new branches and special interest groups
- Campaign training for candidates, councillors and activists
- Legal and compliance training – for accounts, elections and voluntary agents
- Leaflet design and production, and survey canvassing
- Finding new delivery helpers
- Identifying sites for window posters and garden posters
- Recruiting new postal voters
- Building a campaign team
- Enlarging the pledge base through postal surveys, phone canvassing and door-to-door
- Leaflet design and production
- Survey design and production (including packing and mailing where necessary)
- Strategic advice on targeting including target wards and target voters
- Young voters’ survey
- Swing voters’ survey
- Successful Get Out the Postal Vote (GOTPV) and Get Out the Vote (GOTV)
- Jobs Fairs
- Pensioners’ Fairs – from concept to delivery
- Strategic advice on targeting including target wards and target voters
Association Audit
For a fixed fee of £500 (plus travel costs) I will visit your Association for a full day. Working with your officers, staff and key volunteers I will undertake a comprehensive audit of your present position in terms of campaigning, administration and fundraising. Following this I will write an honest report highlighting your Association’s strengths and weaknesses, along with a detailed and costed plan to address any weaknesses and maximise opportunities; a route map to help you move your Association from where it now is to where it needs to be to win the next election. The report will be confidential and presented to either your Management Committee or Executive Council (as agreed). You may then take the report as it stands or, if you wish, retain me on a professional basis to work with your team to develop and implement solutions to the problems identified.
Building a long-term campaign infrastructure
- Identifying sites for window posters and garden posters
- MP/Candidate newsletters (either stand-alone or shared with local councillors to reduce cost)
- Recruiting new postal voters
- Building the pledge base through postal surveys, phone canvassing and door-to-door
- Newsletters – from design to production
- Leaflet design and production
- Survey design and production (including packing and mailing where required)
- Strategic advice on targeting – including target wards and target voters
- Young voters’ survey
- Swing voters’ survey
- Successful Get Out the Postal Vote (GOTPV) and Get Out the Vote (GOTV)
- General advice and guidance to association and branch officers
- Launching new branches and special interest groups
- Campaign training for candidates, councillors and activists
- Legal and compliance training – for accounts, elections and voluntary agents
- Leaflet design and production, and survey canvassing
- Maximising draw income
- 500+ Club
- An Audience with…
- Membership Discount Card scheme
- Business Supporters’ Group
- Training Local Government / Approvals Committee members
- Identifying a new generation of LG candidates
Charging Policy
For my services as a Campaign Consultant I charge by the hour (£50), by the half day (£200) or by the full day (£350) plus travel. I am happy to discuss fees for longer term projects. I will always charge the most economical rate for the work I do and will invoice you through my company “Andrew Kennedy Campaigning Ltd”.
To contact me for an initial discussion about these services, or anything that may not be on this list which I may be able to help with, please fill out the form below.