Example Documentation for Visits

The key to a good visit is planning it well in advance.

There is an excellent template that LDHQ used for Leader visits during the 2017 General Election. This page goes through an example of a completed version step-by-step. You can download a blank version at the bottom of it.

This is the briefing document used for a visit to a factory in Sheffield by then-Party Leader Tim Farron during the 2017 General Election. There were a number of things about this company, Gripple, which made it a good example of a business which would be affected by Brexit:

It relied heavily on exports, including substantial levels of trade to the EU.
It was 100% employee owned, meaning that it was also a case study of the impact of Brexit upon employment
It had recently opened a new premises, so was an example of a business which was growing and expanding.

It was decided to arrange a visit for Tim and the constituency PPC, Nick Clegg. The visit would comprise of a quick meet-and-greet outside the building, a tour of the new factory with ample time to speak to staff members, followed by media interviews.

Visits & Events Briefing Document

Objective

This is the first section of the brief, in which you should explain what the purpose of your visit is: why are you visiting this specific place, what are you expecting to achieve? Writing this down is good practice, as it helps to focus on why you are bringing your VIP to this venue. You should be able to sum up your objective in a couple of concise sentences.

Key Messages

State here what you want your VIP to talk about, especially in media interviews, and any key lines you'd like them to use such as campaign slogans.

Visit Walkthrough

Write up here what will happen during your visit. In this example, the walkthrough goes into proper detail about what will happen, the route of the walk, and what conversation topics are appropriate.

Schedule & Interviews

The schedule should contain minute-by-minute details of what will happen. Whoever writes the schedule should be present at the time to keep things going according to time. (For visits which contain multiple stops, you may wish to have a separate itinerary. You can download a template for this at the bottom of this page.)

List any arranged press interviews in the Media Interviews section. If possible, write them in the order in which they will occur, including the names of the journalists.

People & Candidate sections

Your VIP is likely to have a busy day meeting new people. You can help them by writing up concise bios of the people who they will meet, such as business owners, local candidates, and any people helping to manage the visit.

About

Make sure you include a short briefing about the place you are visiting. It may be a school, a community centre, a private business and so on, so it's important to use this space in your briefing to explain why you have chosen to visit this particular place.

Constituency Background

Particularly useful for visits during campaigns, your visit briefing should contain a political analysis of the area, including recent election results and the names of opposition candidates.