PAD and the 2010 General Election
The fate of over a billion animals every year in the UK ultimately rests with our politicians. So General Elections are pivotal moments that decide who holds such enormous responsibility during the next Parliament.
PAD followed up its groundbreaking campaign around the 2005 poll to put animal protection onto the agenda once again with our VOTE4ANIMALS 2010 General Election project. In the run-up to the election we mounted a huge operation to gather the names and email addresses of some 2,500 candidates and enter them on our database. This allowed thousands of compassionate voters across the country to simply type in their postcode on this website in order to quiz their constituency candidates about where they stood on six crucial animal protection issues, including hunting, battery egg farming and animal experiments.
The impact of the 2010 project was given a massive boost by the ethical cosmetics chain Lush, who ran a week-long national campaign in their ninety stores and online. Through Lush and committed animal advocates across the country, 100,000 VOTE4ANIMALS 2010 campaign leaflets were distributed to voters, urging them to use their vote to save animals from cruelty.
As a result of this immense effort, we received 3,294 pro-animal replies from candidates, including 399 who said yes to all six policy questions. Forty-three of these, including Lib Dem leader and Deputy PM Nick Clegg, were elected as MPs. In total, 124 of the candidates we recommended as the best option for animals were returned to Parliament.
Before the 2010 election, we commissioned a YouGov opinion poll which revealed that animal welfare issues such as hunting and animal experimentation are an important election issue for 41% of the British public. In the same poll, 87% agreed that the way we treat animals is an important measure of the state of our society, with only 21% believing that there is very little animal cruelty in Britain today.
These findings show there is potential for historic advances for animals, with the power of 18 million votes waiting to be tapped. The challenge for the animal protection movement is to harness those beliefs as an effective political force. PAD is leading the way in empowering the public to turn their compassionate principles into essential action at the political level.
Looking forward
Following the 2010 General Election, PAD will continue to be the focal point for serious political action for animals. With your help, we will continue the battle for justice, including fighting to keep hunting history and eliminating animal experiments.
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