5 days on the digital campaign trail in Keighley and Ilkley
“Now is our time to show these two parties that we are not just the colonial servants of yesteryear.” – Vaz Shabir
Online electoral campaigning, so the story goes, came of age in 2008, when Barack Obama’s team effectively reached out to voters on social media. The doorstep had changed and you no longer just knocked on doors anymore. Instead, you popped up online in people’s feeds because that’s where people now were – and in their multitudes.
The same is true today. The world is a lot more digitised and more people than ever are online, personally and professionally. Consequently, candidates knock on doors and candidates disseminate their messages online. But what does it look like today? Well, we set about finding out by following the digital campaign trail for the Keighley and Ilkley election. Here’s how it unfolded over five days.
Wednesday 12 June
We checked in to the digital campaign trail midweek. John Grogan from Labour, Robbie Moore from the Conservatives and the independent candidate Vaz Shabir all took part in a youth hustings at Keighley District Scouts. It was hosted by Toby Hammond, West Yorkshire’s youth commissioner, with what seemed to be a good turnout of scouts.
As for the other candidates, John Wood from the Green Party gave his apologies for not turning up (reason unknown), while the others were not contacted because their contact details were not available on the website Who Can I Vote For?.
Moore, who had been out campaigning in Addingham today – there was a picture of him with a team of supporters holding up with placards that were conspicuously absent of any Conservative branding (and also made up of a confusing mix of colours, too, from Labour red to Green Party green) – said that young people were incredibly important and that their views mattered.
But to what extent? Would he, for example, support Labour’s plan to reduce the voting age to 16? From what we can see, it doesn’t appear so. He said:
“I have made it my mission to engage with as many young people as possible and to be our most active MP in a generation. To make sure all voices are heard and properly represented down in Westminster.”
Shabir described it as a “great hustings”, adding that he felt as though he held his own alongside Grogan and Moore. He said that with young minorities being underrepresented in the scouts – especially those from a Pakistani and Bengali background – he’s going to volunteer to change this. He said:
“As it was a private affair with no one else but children aged 11 to 15 I kept it not to [sic] graphic about Gaza. I did say to the children that I am the only one [candidate] born in Airedale hospital …” I believe in investing in them here in Keighley not bombing children abroad.”
Incidentally, Shabir’s last few posts on TikTok, where he seems to be the most active, haven’t been that focused on Keighley and Ilkley. A couple have criticised Labour’s candidate for Bradford West, Naz Shah, and one has criticised Labour’s candidate for Bradford East, Imran Hussain. This seems to reflect a wider trend where independent candidates in the area are focused on attacking Labour’s position on the war in Gaza to shore up support.
Grogan, who didn’t post anything about the hustings, was also out campaigning. His team posted selfies with everyone looking emphatically chipper despite it being an unseasonably cold June (which many have dubbed “June-uary”). And, we suppose, why wouldn’t they be? Labour remains ahead in the polls and change, indeed, does seem likely (although, don’t let that fool you. Remember that 1992 returned a Conservative government with a small majority against all expectations). They said:
“The message from residents is clear. They are fed-up with 14 years of Conservative chaos and desperate for change.”
Labour’s candidate also announced four commitments. If he’s elected as MP he:
Won’t seek ministerial office, saying he’ll focus exclusively on the area (although it’s a bit like ruling yourself out for a job that no one has actually suggested you are in with a chance of getting)
Will happily and respectfully debate all his opponents, throwing in a cricket reference to, you know, show that he’s down to earth because he’s into sports
Will unite, not divide and refrain play the blame game, which is easier said than done (case in point: “The Tories lifted their ban on granting environmental permits for new incinerators; this is a green light for the industry to build more”)
Won’t leave anyone behind, which, if it’s anything like the pledge from the UN – ”In practice, this means taking explicit action to end extreme poverty, curb inequalities, confront discrimination and fast-track progress for the furthest behind.” – promises a lot
Andrew Judson’s Reform UK team finally got around to creating an official online presence with a “proper” Facebook page. The title, a little long-winded, read: “Reform UK, Keighley and Ilkley Parliamentary Candidate, Andrew Judson.” His profile picture had him dressed smartly – tie, checkered shirt – with a small Union Jack flag placed prominently on what looks to be a light fleece gilet.
His first post was a long one. In it, he talked about his life. He was born in Oakworth – so local lad – worked in arboriculture and now runs his own business in what he calls the garden and equine sector. He likes animals, especially horses.
He’s a councillor, he said, one that’s proactive rather than reactive. And, among others, he’s the chair of the neighbourhood plan development group, a representative of the Yorkshire local council association and a member of the planning committee.
Some of the things he’s promised if elected are:
Addressing the infrastructure challenges of large-scale housing developments, such as oversubscribed schools, roads unable to handle the increase in traffic, and doctor’s appointments being “near unobtainable”
Prohibiting HGVs from using Silsden to cut through to Ilkley and beyond: “Small towns with primary schools and a very narrow town centre are not a place for 20-ton wagons”
Lobbying to get a permanent police presence in Keighley established, explaining that an “accessible police station in the heart of the town is essential”
Interestingly, Judson made no real mention of Reform UK in his post other than him being the party’s candidate for Keighley and Ilkley. As an aside, he has also since protected his tweets.
Thursday 13 June
Attending the Airedale Enterprise’s Airedale Biz Showcase, which provides local businesses from Keighley, Bingley, Shipley, Haworth and the surrounding areas with a platform to promote their offering, Moore was keen to appeal to the “business vote” today.
He gets business, he said, just look at the huge investment he’s got from the Conservative government, including:
£33.6 million for the Keighley Towns Fund
£20 million for the Keighley Long Term Plan
£19 million through the Levelling Up Fund
To be clear, Bradford Council has, it appears, also been active in all of the above. See here and here for more.
The Liberal Democrats were still very quiet about what and who they’re campaigning for locally, which, with three weeks to go before the elections, feels a tad underprepared. After all, how are you going to muster enough support to make an impression if no one knows what you really stand for locally?
Today, for instance, their Facebook post didn’t have anything to do with local issues or even their candidate, Chris Adams. Instead, they reshared a post from the party’s official Facebook page that read:
“Rishi Sunak needs to apologise to the public for his failure to get NHS waiting lists down instead of ducking responsibility. Millions of patients have been failed dismally under this Conservative government, left waiting in pain for the treatment they need.
“Every vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to kick the Conservatives out of power and fix the damage they’ve done to the NHS.”
As for Adams, he’s seemed to be sticking to retweets for now, the latest featuring one of the Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, toasting marshmallows with parents and their toddlers at a forest school.
With regards to John Wood from the Green Party and Dominic Atlas from the Yorkshire Party, there’s seemingly not a lot of material (if any) from both camps. That’s not to say they’re not busy behind the scenes, but online, organically at least, neither has been active since being announced as their party’s candidates for Keighley and Ilkley.
And where there is activity, it is more general. On Twitter (X), for instance, the Bradford wing of the Green Party had been focusing on national issues, save for one retweet from Kevin Warnes, the Shipley candidate, who took a pop at the recently unveiled Labour manifesto.
There was a link to an Independent article praising the party – ”the main parties could learn a thing or two from the Greens” – a “fun fact” about the fact that the Green Party is fielding the most candidates it has ever done in a general election and some commentary on the importance of insulating all the homes in Britain (and how expensive this will be).
Friday 15 June
“Ever since you gave me the chance to represent you,” said Moore. “I’ve made it my mission to be our most active MP in a generation.”
How he measures that, we’re not sure, but we’ll give him this – as far as social media goes, he’s the most active candidate out there – and the most switched on, too. Rough and ready stories direct to voters with no middle cameraman? Check. Posts with bullet point emojis and all-caps copy? Check. Short, sharp, inspirational videos with mood music in the background? Check.
Today’s online campaign began with a video featuring Anne Hawkesworth, one of Ilkley’s longest-serving councillors (she racked up an impressive 34 years between 1990 and 2024). He’s got her vote, she said, which isn’t all that surprising. Hawkesworth, while sitting as an independent since 2013, was a key Conservative figure in Bradford for years. She said:
“I will be voting for Robbie Moore because I am voting for the man, the person, the MP who has been all over this constituency in the four years. He’s done, in my view, a very good job.”
Next was a video that focused on housing. Protect our greenbelt, he said, because Labour is going to bulldoze it. New housing project after new housing project is being “unleashed”, he went on to say, and “often in the face of overwhelming local opposition”.
Housebuilding, one of those habitually loaded issues in UK politics – the Centre for Cities think tank describes the country as having a “severe housing crisis” with a backlog of 4.3 million homes – is a very contentious topic in Keighley and Ilkley.
There are those, like Moore, who argue that housing proposals risk destroying greenbelt land and that it constitutes, in effect, as per the government’s National Planning Policy Framework, “inappropriate development”. Further, they claim that housing development is often done in isolation, with, for example, no real consideration for how this impacts on local infrastructure.
Others argue that housing is needed. As a draft local plan from 2021 noted:
“[New housing] will ensure that the housing needs and aspirations of local people can be met, together with those of future residents, including the provision of market and importantly affordable housing. Ilkley has a strong local housing market, and further growth will support the economy and sustain the provision of services and facilities and Ilkley's role as a principal town.”
He wrapped up the day with another handheld selfie video. It’s quarter to nine on a Friday, he said, giddy on top of Beamsley Beacon. It’s one of his favourite spots, he continued, enthusiastically, like a Duracell bunny:
“There is so much to do and I have got so much fuel in the tank to keep going … it’s great to take some time out of the day – well, at the end of the day, to come and enjoy what this part of the world has to offer.”
“You’re a hard worker,” said one person on Facebook. “Where do you get your energy from?” asked another. “Hard working, loyal and authentic,” added another.
On TikTok, Shabir, sitting in his car – what is it with people chatting into their phone in their car for social media? – said he had a message for the people of Keighley and, in particular, its minority population. The reason he’s standing as the independent candidate, he explained, is because the Conservatives and Labour have disregarded our views and values:
“Now is our time to show these two parties that we are not just the colonial servants of yesteryear. We are people who actually believe in real British values of equality and justice, something that these two parties did not do over Gaza … there’s only one way we can change these parties and that’s by deserting them and not voting for them.”
Next, again in his car, Shabir was out showing Gaza flags pinned outside of houses with the message “vote the independent voice of Keighley and Ilkley Vaz Shabir” over the top of it with a picture, too, of the candidate. “The July 4 general election, we’ll show the mainstream parties what time it is,” he said.
We finally had some activity from the Lib Dems, who were now happy to share more detail about their candidate, Dr Adams. You know, who he is and what he’s campaigning for, that kind of thing. We learnt that he had begun his career in higher education and moved to London to work in Parliament because he was (is) “passionate about using the power of politics for good” (where he moved from is less clear). He now works “as a director at a communications [sic]”. Clearly.
“Dr Chris Adams will be campaigning for action to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, the NHS crisis and the sewage scandal. For years, Keighley and Ilkley have been ignored and taken for granted by the Conservative government. They have repeatedly failed us – it's time for change.
“Airedale Hospital was left to crumble for over a decade and local health services are struggling, people’s mortgages and rents are too high, and our rivers are polluted with sewage. The Conservative government have no vision for the future of the country.”
Judson was keen to let voters know that Reform UK had now overtaken the Conservatives in the polls, claiming, as their leader, Nigel Farage had, that they’re now, in effect, the opposition party to Labour. They’re not. It was just one poll. There would need to be an unprecedented mass desertion from conventional Conservative voters to make this happen and that’s extremely unlikely.
It makes for good headlines though and that, for Reform UK is a win and business as usual – big on the soundbites, shy on the substance. That said, Reform UK will have an impact on the general election. To what extent is still hard to predict.
Judson also added a clarification today. I was born in Keighley, he said, and I still live here. He didn’t want anyone to think he had been parachuted in from London. His Facebook cover picture was also updated, with another snap from the same shoot as earlier. In this latest image, he looked like he was having a great time – and perhaps he is. General election campaigns, as intense as they are, must have some memorable moments for those who stand.
Saturday 16 June
Having spent a day off the digital campaign trail – well, at least organically (that’s non-paid social media activity in case you’re wondering) – Grogan was back with a one-minute video, which seemed to have been inspired by Moore’s hyper-enthusiastic 90-second video recap of what he’d achieved since 2019.
Hands behind back, dressed in a suit – seemingly his default political look, day and night, Monday to Friday, weekends, too – Grogan took on a more serious tone. This is, he said, “my pledges for Keighley and Ilkley”. They included:
Getting the NHS back on its feet and cutting waiting lists at Airedale hospital (no explainer how)
Boosting town and village centres by bringing public and private organisations together (what exactly this will do isn’t clear)
Fund more neighbourhood police to combat crime and antisocial behaviour (no context as to what the situation is with both)
Stopping 90% of sewage discharges into the River Aire, Wharfe and Worth (but no detail how he’d do this)
Providing breakfast clubs in all primary schools and extra teachers (without saying how this fits in with the national school breakfast club programme and how will it be funded?)
Uniting not dividing (admirable but the proof is in the pudding)
Argue passionately but respectfully (great but how exactly is that helping voters?)
Moore, of course, unwilling – incapable even – of taking it easy for even a day digitally (fair enough, he’s fighting for his recently vacated seat), shared a picture of himself with a blurred-out policeman saying he’ll “fight to restore our town centre police stations”. He took a dig at Tracy Brabin, West Yorkshire’s re-elected mayor.
She’s not listening to the people, he said, who want permanent and accessible police stations back in our town centres to deal with the “scourge of crime”. She might have a different take on this.
Speaking of the police, here’s some wider context from Full Fact in April 2023:
“While the government has fulfilled its 2019 manifesto commitment and the number of police officers is indeed now higher than when the Conservative-led coalition took office in 2010, the recent increase through the Police Uplift Programme is broadly equivalent to the number of officers that were lost between 2010 and 2017.”
On TikTok, Shabir, who has a certain composed flair for public speaking, shared a video of him saying that the 2024 election should be the “Gaza election”. Why? Because:
“History will remember this. Whilst there was a genocide going on what did we do? Did we endorse these parties or did we stand with the truth … did we stand for justice? “When we see the Labour candidates trying to claim that they are speaking for Palestine, especially here in Bradford, we know that this is nonsense to get your votes.”
He then took time to promote Diamonds Cafe, which, he said, “serves the best quality food at the best prices”. He added that they also stand on the right stand of history, pointing to a poster they had of Shabir on the window.
As for the Green Party and Wood … from what we can see, still nothing (and we’ve sent chasers). There’s some activity for the Bradford South seat, with the party chuffed to see #VoteGreen boards being put up, but, of course, that’s not helpful to those of you in Keighley and Ilkley.
Update: We heard from Wood on Monday. He said:
“I currently do not have a candidate page on social media and unless you have a decent budget to constantly pay to promote, which is not available to myself, then it’s hardly going to get any traction. For that reason I will use other methods of communication on social media.”
Fair enough.
Sunday 17 June
Moore had another professional-looking video from a voter. The problem with this video was that it was clear that it was scripted. The chap in it managed to tick off all the things that Moore and his team have been saying:
He’s the hardest working MP in a long time: yep, we’ve heard that before
He wants an inquiry into child sexual exploitation: as above
He wants to leave Bradford Council: so he’s said many a time
There was also a call to voters to not put their faith in Reform UK, with Moore potentially spooked by talk, however real it is, of Farage’s party going further than any of the political projects he’s been involved with, from UKIP to The Brexit Party:
“If you vote for them you will essentially knock Robbie out – you will take votes away from the hardest working MP we’ve had … you’ll give it to John Grogan.”
Moore then popped up suggesting that Labour want people to vote for Reform UK, joining his fellow Conservatives with the “we’re going to lose but still vote for us” messaging:
“Because if you do [vote for Reform UK], he wins. And it won’t be me representing your views over the next five years.”
Speaking of Reform UK, Judson, the day before Reform UK released their “Contract” – a manifesto all but in name – said that Bradford council needs to listen to the residents of Keighley and Ilkley:
“Too many times has this Council ignored or disregarded your concerns and wishes, insisting they know better than you and forcing decisions on you against your wishes,” he said. “Voting for Reform UK and for me, will ensure I can hold BDMC to account, working to raise your concerns and being a voice for you! I will not let the council ignore you anymore, I will work to make sure your voices are heard!”
There was still nothing from Atlas, but like the Green Party, this is, he told us on Monday when we met for an interview in the evening – we had one scheduled with Shabir in the morning, too, but he didn’t turn up (it was Eid and there was a mix up with comms) – primarily to do with having limited resources and other commitments, like a full-time job and a family. Fitting in an election campaign alongside all of that is no easy task.