David Cracknell, the former political editor of the Sunday Times, is now based in Rye. Rye News asked him for his take on the general election in Rye - or what he could find of it.
In recent weeks I have been wondering if there really is an election going on at all in this (very marginal) seat, first created in 1983 and proven itself a two-way marginal ever since.
I wouldn’t bet on it. (And not because I am worried about the Gambling Commission finding out!)
I certainly looked for inside information. Yes there are the placards, but where are the people with leaflets? Is anyone knocking on doors? I wonder as I walk down the High Street on a sunny June lunchtime, mid campaign. Is kissing babies no longer allowed?
I asked in the shops, asked a few people if they had seen any activity. “No, no one’s been in,” said the woman behind the deli counter. I asked my hairdresser. “Nope, not a snip,” she replied.
I received a text; but not from anyone who wanted to couple up politically. No, it was from Southern Water telling me to expect disruption to the mains supply. A local issue! Excellent. Perhaps there will be some election argle-bargle over it.
Let’s turn to social media.
I was told it was the Tik Tok election, but all I found under the hashtag was a video with tourist tips and a bloke who was going on random train journeys around the UK.
The sitting MP hasn’t given an X to her 7,000 followers since May, while the Labour candidate has been reposting a lot of central PR memes and wishing England well in the Euros to her 3,800 followers. (To be fair both do claim to have been doing their bit to improve water supplies in the local area.)
I am told that the Tories have been putting money into Facebook, and Labour has certainly revived the placard.
I found a few debates on Facebook and Next Door apps alongside the ads for plumbers and handymen.
Remember Worcester Woman, Basildon Man, Mondeo Man, all ciphers for Middle England flavours? We as a marginal seat deserve our own set of appellations.
Well, the real battle for Hastings and Rye, it turns out, is between reasonable Icklesham Man and the Beckley Faragists.
Rob from Icklesham fairly innocently noted the amount of Labour banners, and a few Lib Dems, but not much else. “Is it a shoe-in?” he asked. Bloomin' good question, Rob!
Rob later sagely commented that perhaps the Conservatives were “too ashamed” because of the gaffes over D-Day. And this was before this week’s betting scandal.
Of course his post provoked a tirade of contributions, but at least we had some debate – of a kind. Nearly 200 reactions and counting, although still not much about local issues.
A contributor from Rye suggested Tory voters were “too scared” to put their posters out, which prompted “Beckley Man” to declare he was voting for Reform. which inevitably opened the flood gates.
Words were exchanged and someone called Tarquin didn’t like Reform. Accusations and phrases were knocked into the box at quick pace like a (non- England) Euros match: “literally Neo Nazis”, "extremism on the rise”, “the party of common sense”.
Beckley Man stood his ground, perhaps looking to prove he was the real opposition now.
Others point out that the country needs immigrants to do all the jobs British people aren’t prepared to do anymore, like serving the tourists in the tea shops and restaurants of Rye.
“The Greens did well in the locals, why can’t they keep up the momentum?!” said another.
“They are all the same, only interested in themselves.”
This, then, is what a modern election campaign looks like.
There are real local issues in the town. I wanted some proper mature debate about them. Let’s hope the arrival of former Undertones frontman turned sewage campaigner Feargal Sharkey with Labour in Hastings on Thursday, and the forthcoming Rye hustings provide that.
Disclaimer – the writer does accept that some people in Beckley are not supporters of Reform.
