WITH the country still in the midst of a lockdown due to Covid-19, political parties across Bradford are gearing up for a very different campaign this year in the lead up to elections in May.

As traditional methods of campaigning such as door knocking will be avoided, a row has erupted over the delivery of political leaflets through the door.

Cllr David Ward (Lib Dem, Bolton and Undercliffe), said: "Yes, you can have the election, but no, you can't campaign. We can't knock on doors but can deliver leaflets, but only if you pay someone to deliver them. It's ok parties that have money."

"With the pandemic, our top priority to keep residents and our volunteers safe," said Bradford Green Party representative Matt Edwards. "We're not envisioning door knocking being part of our campaign this year.

"But what's confusing things is that the Government have muddied the water about the delivery of leaflets.

"Cabinet minister Chloe Smith said the political parties shouldn't be using volunteers to deliver leaflets.

"Because it's a guideline and not legislation, it's created a grey area and politicised the issue. There's no right or wrong answer

"The Lib Dems and the Greens campaigns run in very different way to Labour and the Conservatives, who rely on their brand.

"We've taken the view that it's delivering pieces of papers with all the proper precautions in place."

Cllr Ralph Barry (Lab, Wibsey) said: "I think it's a real blow about leaflets, that we can pay someone to do it but we can't actually deliver them ourselves. But we have to stay within the rules. We're hoping there will be an easement in the short campaign three weeks before the election."

"Keeping our communities safe is the most important thing to us," said Jac Morton, secretary of the Bradford Conservative Association. "Until the Government guidelines change it (delivering leaflets) is not something we will be doing. Nor do we condone any political activists going door to door posting leaflets or otherwise as it poses a huge risk to both themselves and others.

"We want to keep the people in our wards safe as well as our passionate team of activists. Of course the guidelines have had an effect on the traditional way campaigns have but like all parties we are adapting.

"Campaigning is about making election information accessible, easy to understand and available for everyone. We are striving to do that with our materials. We have updated our website to make election information digitally accessible, while this isn't a perfect solution at the moment this all we can do."

"Social media plays an important part in getting younger people involved with local politics and making their voices heard. We are doing everything we can to encourage this because it will benefit Bradford, which seems to have stagnated for many years with old ideas."

"Honestly, I do miss speaking to people face to face, but we have to adapt," added Cllr Berry. "I've been having a lot of telephone conversations and I've been engaging more with people on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp than in other years. I even have Zoom surgeries planned for early March.

"We just have to take prudent steps to get through this year and then hope we can get back to normal."