Leafletting.

Canvassing (asking how people will vote, either at their door, over the phone, or using surveys).

Putting up a poster at election time.

Holding house meetings, where neighbours are invited to meet a candidate.

Fundraising by helping to organise social events and appeals to raise money.

Standing themselves (usually for council, but also for other positions of responsibility such as school governors).

Joining letter writing circles, getting mentions in the media.

Assisting on photo shoots and celebrity visits as part of the crowd.

Those are most of the obvious ones. But why do we do these things? Surely the national policies dictate a result, not to mention the media coverage?

Wrong!

People vote for the person who they think will do the most for them. That's human nature after all. So, if the Conservative candidate, at whatever level, is the one who organised the litterpick next to your house, helped sort out your daughter's problems at school or just spent 20 minutes on your doorstep listening to all of your problems, you are more likely to vote for them. It works. I've seen rock solid opposition wards go Conservative because of a hard fought, pro-active local issue campaign and vice-versa.