31 JANUARY 2015
HOW TO APPROACH HUSTINGS
TOM SHARMAN, Policy Communications Manager, The Green Party of England and Wales
JAMES LLOYD, Volunteer Consultant, Former special advisor to the Lib Dems
1
Contents
Your
objective at
hustings
Rule of 3:
framing our
policies
1
2
Empathy,
values,
action
3
Dealing
with
difficult
questions
4
Swords
and shields
5
2
Contents
Your
objective at
hustings
Rule of 3:
framing our
policies
1
2
Empathy,
values,
action
3
Dealing
with
difficult
questions
4
Swords
and shields
5
3
Your objective at hustings



Connect with the audience
Give people positive reasons to vote Green
What else
4
Exercise 1: In pairs…


Ex
What do the audience want to see?
What would good and bad look like?
5
Contents
Your
objective at
hustings
Rule of 3:
framing our
policies
1
2
Empathy,
values,
action
3
Dealing
with
difficult
questions
4
Swords
and shields
5
6
People think in 3’s

1st, 2nd and 3rd in
a race: gold,
silver, bronze

Film trilogies

Language:
 Storytelling:
beginning, middle,
— ready, aim, fire
and end
— ready, set, go
— lights, camera, action
— the good, the bad
and the ugly
http://www.visualthinkingmagic.com/rule-of-three
7
What this means for us…


Group things in 3s
If you have more things
group them in sets of 3s

All Green Party policies
can be grouped under:
1. Economy
2. Society
3. Environment
(Yes – we know that everything is connected!)
8
Where this framing comes from…

Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

Economy (Jobs): 100,000 green jobs

2011 General Election
— 2008 General Election: 7% vote,
9 MPs
— 2011 General Election: 11% vote,
14 MPs – record result!

Society (Child poverty): 100,000 kids
out of poverty

Environment (Cleaner rivers): All our
rivers and lakes safe to swim in

Known as: jobs, kids and rivers
http://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2008/
http://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2011/
http://campaignhandbook.gef.eu/for-a-richer-new-zealand-successes-of-a-green-campaign/
9
10
11
Exercise 2: In pairs…

What does the Green Party stand for?

Answer in 3s:
— 1 from Economy
— 1 from Society
— 1 from Environment

Then (if time) 3 from Economy, 3 from Society, 3 from Environment

Quick fire: 3 sound bites

How would you prepare better in the future?
Ex
12
Contents
Your
objective at
hustings
Rule of 3:
framing our
policies
1
2
Empathy,
values,
action
3
Dealing
with
difficult
questions
4
Swords
and shields
5
13
Empathy, values, action



Empathy: I understand the
problem you face
Values: I care about the
problem you face and here is
why
Action: this is what I am going
to do about it

Conversational feel

Remember: it’s not about
convincing your opponents – it’s
about convincing your audience

Make a note of people’s names
and use them in your answers
14
Remember… whatever you think of him now…




Nick Clegg won the leaders’
debates in 2010
This wasn’t an accident
He prepared for them
thoroughly
He used the empathy, values,
action approach
15
Exercise 3: In groups of 4…




Ex
Take it in turns:
1 person asks a question
1 person gives an answer using empathy, values, action
Rinse and repeat!
16
Contents
Your
objective at
hustings
Rule of 3:
framing our
policies
1
2
Empathy,
values,
action
3
Dealing
with
difficult
questions
4
Swords
and shields
5
17
What do you do if you don’t know the answer?
1.
2.
Don’t make up policy on the hoof!
Do use the empathy, values, action approach.
Fire a difficult question at me!
18
Contents
Your
objective at
hustings
Rule of 3:
framing our
policies
1
2
Empathy,
values,
action
3
Dealing
with
difficult
questions
4
Swords
and shields
5
19
Swords and shields
I know everyone in the Green Party secretly loves a military
metaphor 
 Swords = issues to go on the attack with
 Shields = issues people will attack us with – we need a
rebuttal ready
20
Here’s one I made earlier…
21
Drugs
Telegraph sword

The trade and cultivation of
cannabis will be decriminalised
under Green policy, along with
possession of Class A and B
drugs for personal use. Anti-rave
laws would be scrapped.
Green Party shield

Prohibition does not prevent drug
use by adults or children

We aim to minimise drug use and
reduce the harm it causes

We would regulate raves and
make them safer
22
Brothels
Telegraph sword

All elements of the sex industry
will be decriminalised, and
prostitutes could no longer be
discriminated against in child
custody cases
Green Party shield

No attempt to end prostitution through
prohibitive laws has worked

Criminalisation leaves sex workers vulnerable

The law should not regulate consensual sexual
activities between adults where those do not
affect others
23
Al Qaeda
Telegraph sword

Merely being a member of al-Qaeda, the IRA and other currently proscribed terrorist
groups will no longer be a criminal offence under Green plans, and instead a Green
Government should seek to “address desperate motivations that lie behind many
atrocities labelled ‘terrorist’,” the policy book states. Terrorism, it adds, “is an
extremely loaded term. Sometimes governments justify their own terrorist acts by
labelling any groups that resist their monopoly of violence 'terrorist’.”
24
Al Qaeda
Green Party shield

ISIS is a violent and horrific organisation – anyone
involved in it should be dealt with through the criminal
justice system.

Anyone who is involved in violence – be it the violent
act itself, the planning of violent acts, or the financing
of violent acts – is a criminal and should be dealt
through the criminal justice system.

Being a member of the Green Party means signing up
to a commitment to peace and non-violence, as
reflected by our commitment to the abolition of Trident
nuclear weapons and our opposition to the Iraq and
Afghan wars.

People should be free to believe in whatever they
want to – but supporting organisations that use
violence against members of the public to advance
their cause is a criminal act and should be treated as
such.
25
General line on the PSS*

The Green Party is a democratic organisation in which our members - now more than 50,000
people - decide our policy.

Our members come from all walks of life - most of them are ordinary people, not professional
politicians.

Some of our policies could be better written but that is the result of opening up politics to those
outside of the Westminster Establishment - something we are determined to do.

Our General Election manifesto will set out our key policies for the next parliament and will be
released in March. Judge us on that.
* Policies for a Sustainable Society - our Policy Website
26
Exercise 4: In small groups…
1.
2.
What are the Green
Party’s sword issues?
What are the Green
Party’s shield issues?

Ex
Feedback from groups:
— What additional help do
you want?
27
Thank you
28