At Swanley Bar we had a leaflet from the Labour candidate, but she does live on Hawkshead Road, Little Heath so maybe that is why we got one. Or maybe because we have the only council properties in the Brookmans Park and Little Heath ward and she thought the residents would be likely to vote Labour?
To follow up John's point, the Labour and Conservative leaflets had similarities, but the Labour one contained less information and had a simpler format. Both gave some personal information, both oppose the QE2 rundown, the extra housing under the East of England Plan, and want to 'maintain an attractive and safe local environment for residents' (quote from Labour leaflet).
Naturally the Conservative leaflet says what good the Welwyn Hatfield Council is doing, and the Labour leaflet says the council is being tough on pensioners by increasing various fees, is desperate to sell off council housing and its maintenance service, and is wasting our money. It contains a half-truth saying that Council tax rose by 4.5% this year, ignoring the fact that the Welwyn Hatfield element rose by only 2%. The major rises were the County and Police elements which were affected by Central Government grant levels.
I agree with Sasquartch that 40% in a safe seat is a good turnout. When the parish council circulated all 3.600 houses in the whole of the parish, 658 replied - 18%. The topic was whether or not to fund a Police Community Support Officer which would have cost about £16,000 a year and would have added 10% on to the sum you pay the parish council. Quite a good response. Just to remind you, the survey result was against funding a PCSO.
