Elections 2022

What’s happening?

On Thursday 5th May, local council elections will be taking place across the UK. Councillors are up for election in all local authorities in Wales and Scotland and more than a hundred authorities across England, including all London boroughs. The upcoming elections offer an unmissable opportunity to get local politicians to publicly declare their support for fossil fuel divestment.

On Monday 4 April, we will be launching a new campaign to secure divestment pledges from candidates in all nations and across all political persuasions — but we can’t do this without your help!

Things you’ll get to do in the role

In this short-term role (ending June 2022), you’ll take a lead on organising local campaigning events and overseeing fossil free activities in your area.

This could include:

• Being the main contact point to UK Divest for election related activities in your area.
• Coordinating contact information for prospective candidates for local campaigners to draw from.
• Organising a ‘barnstorming’ event for your local campaign, where campaigners directly engage with candidates for election to encourage them to sign the UK Divest pledge.
• Working with the UK Divest team to deliver candidate briefing events for councillors sitting on the fence.
• Arranging a ‘day of action’ to increase pressure during the election campaign.
• Coordinating any media work relating to divestment in the run up to the election campaign.
• After the elections, tracking which candidates that signed the pledge then get elected, inviting them to a post-election event on what to do now they’ve been elected and planning how to hold your councillors to account in the long-term.
• If there is no election in your area, you can be ‘buddied’ with an Election Organiser near you and to offer support to their work.

Please note: the exact responsibilities of this role will vary depending on where you are based and how much time you have to offer, so don’t hesitate to register your interest even if you only have capacity to do one thing in the list above!

Support you’ll receive from us

Election Organisers can expect to receive tailored support from UK Divest, including:

• Online training on ‘barnstorming’ and how to run effective barnstorming events and other training opportunities (as identified by Election Organisers once you get started).
• A limited budget for printing campaign materials and booking venues for local barnstorms.
• A bespoke Whatsapp support group for all election organisers to support and encourage one another.
• Ongoing coaching and advice from the UK Divest staff team.

Benefits of the role

We think this will be a fun and rewarding experience for both seasoned divestment activists and those looking to get started in climate campaigning. You’ll get bespoke training from UK Divest, get to join a group of other election organisers to make plans and pals with, and leave with something extra for your CV.

The activities you’ll be leading on are aimed at growing your group and building leadership in your community, so we hope that it can help to reinvigorate campaigns that need a little boost and that you’ll come away with some wins under your belt!

Register your interest

Please fill in this short form to register your interest by Friday 1st April.

Please get in touch with Rob at robert@platformlondon.org if you have any questions.