Well things are going much better now than a few days ago. The end of last week felt like a bit of a low point with no end in sight but the weekend and today have been amazing. I have sat with a few people and had coffee and real conversations with them. I have shaken hands with someone who has shaken hands with Winston Churchill and every Prime Minister since up to Major. I sat and spoke to him in his beautiful garden. It was a real treat.
Over the past four days I have had help from Giles English-Jones, Iain Dale leafleted for me yesterday and today Daniel Hannan started my 'Encourage People to Exercise Their Democratic Right' push (Campaign Manager James doesn't like the phrase Get Out The Vote). HUGE thanks to all of them for their help, I really appreciate them taking time out to come and help little old me!
Thursday is going to be very interesting.
Monday, 30 April 2007
Saturday, 28 April 2007
Campaign Update!
Wow... very busy times. We are less than a week from the election now so I thought an update was due!
Canvassing is almost complete and will be completely finished tomorrow. The final week leaflet is ready to go now as well.
I was unexpectedly joined by Giles English-Jones yesterday who helped me canvass. He was fantastic. He had experience having stood in the last General election against Geoff Hoon, so a big thanks you to Giles for coming to help.
This afternoon has been, frankly, aweful. Most people not voting and anyone who is will be voting liberal! I am still optomistic though... bring on the 3rd!
Canvassing is almost complete and will be completely finished tomorrow. The final week leaflet is ready to go now as well.
I was unexpectedly joined by Giles English-Jones yesterday who helped me canvass. He was fantastic. He had experience having stood in the last General election against Geoff Hoon, so a big thanks you to Giles for coming to help.
This afternoon has been, frankly, aweful. Most people not voting and anyone who is will be voting liberal! I am still optomistic though... bring on the 3rd!
Tuesday, 24 April 2007
Future of Local Government
Yes I am a very sad individual for watching the Future of Local Government Debate in the Commons but I am. Let's face it, you can see why I am interested.
I have to say that the Shadow Local Government Secretary Caroline Spelman is impressing me.
Apparently Band E properties have gone up in Council Tax from £57 in 1997 (when Council Tax was a "mild irritation") to £112 today (when Council Tax is a "gaping sore").
Conservative run Councils cost the tax-payer less money. That is a fact. It can be seen here in Maidstone. The Conservatives have provided the SECOND LOWEST tax rise in Kent this year. Last year under the Liberal/Labour coalition the tax rise in Maidstone was the SECOND HIGHEST in Kent. What's more, as promised they have not cut any services.
This is despite Labours diverting of funds from front line, council-managed services to unelected regional assemblies (not to mention the powers that have been diverted the same way!)
So I guess my point (if I had to make one), is vote Conservative on May 3rd! (What a suprise!)
I have to say that the Shadow Local Government Secretary Caroline Spelman is impressing me.
Apparently Band E properties have gone up in Council Tax from £57 in 1997 (when Council Tax was a "mild irritation") to £112 today (when Council Tax is a "gaping sore").
Conservative run Councils cost the tax-payer less money. That is a fact. It can be seen here in Maidstone. The Conservatives have provided the SECOND LOWEST tax rise in Kent this year. Last year under the Liberal/Labour coalition the tax rise in Maidstone was the SECOND HIGHEST in Kent. What's more, as promised they have not cut any services.
This is despite Labours diverting of funds from front line, council-managed services to unelected regional assemblies (not to mention the powers that have been diverted the same way!)
So I guess my point (if I had to make one), is vote Conservative on May 3rd! (What a suprise!)
Friday, 20 April 2007
Have I Got News For You...
Took a night off from the campaign schedule last night to go and see Have I Got News For You filmed. It is on TV tonight.
Was very funny despite the unfortunate seats we had way off to the left of the studio. It was great to see how Paul and Ian bounce off of each other in reaity. It took 2 hours to film and 3 quarters of that will get cut out.
I was suprised at how big Paul is in real life... massive, but maybe that was because he was standing next to Ian. Anyhow, watch tonight on BBC1 at 9pm.
Was very funny despite the unfortunate seats we had way off to the left of the studio. It was great to see how Paul and Ian bounce off of each other in reaity. It took 2 hours to film and 3 quarters of that will get cut out.
I was suprised at how big Paul is in real life... massive, but maybe that was because he was standing next to Ian. Anyhow, watch tonight on BBC1 at 9pm.
Monday, 16 April 2007
Issues not politics
I was invited to speak to the Kent Youth County Council yesterday about being a young council candidate and ‘getting in’ to politics. I was, frankly, a nervous wreck when I got up to speak. This was a room of people ranging from about 15 years old to 18 years old and there were maybe 30 or 40 of them. As I stood up I realised that these people weren’t going to talk any of my rubbish. I even decided to use less of my own ‘special’ brand of humour because let’s face it, I am not that funny and these guys would say so. They don’t mess about.
My ‘speech’ went off with minimal embarrassment for me and I was very pleasantly surprised when I heard murmurs of approval behind the disapproving boo’s when I said I was a Conservative!
However I think I got far more out of the day from them than they did out of me even despite my imparting of ‘wisdom’.
It seems that the only time ‘youths’ get into the media these days is when we are killing each other on city streets. I don’t know if this is a historic thing from the mods and rockers or before then but it is true today. The only press anybody sees that concerns youth is the scary stuff. So much so that the term ‘youth’ has become synonymous with a knife holding, hoodie-wearing, aggressive drop out with an intimidating walk.
KYCC is made up of young people all standing up for the fact that the VAST majority of youths are good people.
After my bit they all broke off into workgroups and worked on all sorts of different projects and after lunch they had debates on Grammar schools and legalising cannabis. Some of these guys quite vehemently opposed each others views but spoke with a level of respect for each other that was mind blowing. It was issues without politics. I was very careful not to be partisan when I spoke to them which is often hard for me but it was literally inspirational how they were so focused on dealing with problems rather than arguing politics.
Like I said I learnt a lot from them and probably far more than they learnt from me.
My ‘speech’ went off with minimal embarrassment for me and I was very pleasantly surprised when I heard murmurs of approval behind the disapproving boo’s when I said I was a Conservative!
However I think I got far more out of the day from them than they did out of me even despite my imparting of ‘wisdom’.
It seems that the only time ‘youths’ get into the media these days is when we are killing each other on city streets. I don’t know if this is a historic thing from the mods and rockers or before then but it is true today. The only press anybody sees that concerns youth is the scary stuff. So much so that the term ‘youth’ has become synonymous with a knife holding, hoodie-wearing, aggressive drop out with an intimidating walk.
KYCC is made up of young people all standing up for the fact that the VAST majority of youths are good people.
After my bit they all broke off into workgroups and worked on all sorts of different projects and after lunch they had debates on Grammar schools and legalising cannabis. Some of these guys quite vehemently opposed each others views but spoke with a level of respect for each other that was mind blowing. It was issues without politics. I was very careful not to be partisan when I spoke to them which is often hard for me but it was literally inspirational how they were so focused on dealing with problems rather than arguing politics.
Like I said I learnt a lot from them and probably far more than they learnt from me.
Sunday, 15 April 2007
East Ward campaigning
Campainging for John Wilson in Coxheath yesterday was a great day out! So many people turned out including the recently selected LGA candidate, James Cleverley. I hope we all managed to John proud.We ended up in the Victoria Pub in East Farleigh were they put on some sandwiches I enjoyed a pint :-) In the pub garden we had a photo shoot with Ann Widdecombe and here you can see me talking about something very important with Ann.
We had a great response on the doors from the people that were in and hopefully John and Brenda were seen by a lot of people on their stall in the High Street.
Wednesday, 11 April 2007
No turning back...
Well there it is folks, all official and everything. I am now officially the Conservative Party Candidate for Loose Ward in the Maidstone Borough Council Elections held on Thursday May 3rd 2007.
Also standing in Loose is the incumbent Cllr Hugh Laing standing for the Liberals and Angela Wooi for the Green Party. I was expecting a Labour candidate as well but I am thrilled that UKIP aren’t putting up a candidate.
The presence of a Green Candidate could make things interesting, although a lot of people I am speaking to on the doorstep seem to be sceptical about the ‘Green’ issue and have even gone as far as attacking me for the Conservatives mentioning the environment nationally at all. I have said it before and I will say it again, whatever happens over the next few weeks (23 days!) we are in for an interesting time.
Nobody knows what could happen on May 3rd. The Liberals are numerically still in a strong position, but will they join with Labour to form a coalition? I doubt it; they didn’t last year. It is certain then that Maidstone Borough Council is wide open and every vote counts. Last year John Wilson lost by just under 40 votes in Coxheath and Bruce Pollington won by only 3 votes in South Ward. So if any constituents are reading this, please be sure to vote because literally every vote counts.
Also standing in Loose is the incumbent Cllr Hugh Laing standing for the Liberals and Angela Wooi for the Green Party. I was expecting a Labour candidate as well but I am thrilled that UKIP aren’t putting up a candidate.
The presence of a Green Candidate could make things interesting, although a lot of people I am speaking to on the doorstep seem to be sceptical about the ‘Green’ issue and have even gone as far as attacking me for the Conservatives mentioning the environment nationally at all. I have said it before and I will say it again, whatever happens over the next few weeks (23 days!) we are in for an interesting time.
Nobody knows what could happen on May 3rd. The Liberals are numerically still in a strong position, but will they join with Labour to form a coalition? I doubt it; they didn’t last year. It is certain then that Maidstone Borough Council is wide open and every vote counts. Last year John Wilson lost by just under 40 votes in Coxheath and Bruce Pollington won by only 3 votes in South Ward. So if any constituents are reading this, please be sure to vote because literally every vote counts.
Wow!
Wow. Saturday was a very big day in Loose. I would like to say thank you to everyone who came out to help campaign; as always James was as committed (far more even) than me, my Dad came out for the first time to help which was brilliant and special thanks go to Gordon and his team from London. Thanks also go to John Wilson and his wife Brenda who are always willing to help out and I will be repaying them by helping John in Coxheath this Saturday and I urge everyone else to try and help as well because John has a fantastic chance this year of taking the seat. Other campaigners this weekend were Mark, Adrian, Annabelle, Paddy and Jacques Arnold; thank you all very much.
We managed about 65-70% of the ward and I haven’t been able to count all the C’s yet but it is safe to say I was smiling very broadly in the Walnut Tree afterwards and it wasn’t just because of the beer. James and I discovered a road in the village that was very anti-me; everyone that James spoke to said that there is no way they would vote for me. However John, Brenda, Adrian and Mark tell me that Salts Avenue seems to be a Conservative stronghold and that a lot of people there already know me as ‘the young one’. Good stuff!
The sad news is that I am leaving the Westminster Village at the end of this week (only temporarily I hope, someone is bound to give me a job with money sooner or later *kneels down and prays*) so that I can spend the three weeks up to the election focusing on the campaign. So three weeks of hard work start on Monday morning and if I am honest with you dear reader, I cannot wait. Bring it on.
We managed about 65-70% of the ward and I haven’t been able to count all the C’s yet but it is safe to say I was smiling very broadly in the Walnut Tree afterwards and it wasn’t just because of the beer. James and I discovered a road in the village that was very anti-me; everyone that James spoke to said that there is no way they would vote for me. However John, Brenda, Adrian and Mark tell me that Salts Avenue seems to be a Conservative stronghold and that a lot of people there already know me as ‘the young one’. Good stuff!
The sad news is that I am leaving the Westminster Village at the end of this week (only temporarily I hope, someone is bound to give me a job with money sooner or later *kneels down and prays*) so that I can spend the three weeks up to the election focusing on the campaign. So three weeks of hard work start on Monday morning and if I am honest with you dear reader, I cannot wait. Bring it on.
Tuesday, 3 April 2007
Guest Blog 3 - Tim Collins
Tim is a Parliamentary Researcher for a prominent Conservative MP and does a lot of work on campaigning.
Conservative Campaigning - what we do best!
As the Conservative Party faces its biggest electoral challenge for decades it must look to its campaigning techniques for success.
The Tory Party has long relied on mobilising the incredible number of activists it can call upon at any time. In recent years there has been a tendency to look at campaigning as purely an auditing process. The monotonous sequence of leafleting, canvassing, getting pledges and knocking up has taken the place of natural Conservative campaigning techniques.
Don’t get me wrong – these are very important actions – they are vital to success and we have proved time and again that the Conservatives have the best organisational processes and resources in modern British politics. However, they don’t swing votes and only here can we hope to win elections.
The Conservative Party needs to move back to what it does best; working hard in the community and demonstrating that hard work. The most powerful tools any person standing for election has are third party endorsements (from those not involved in party politics) and the ability to prove how hard they are working for the communities, be they wards, areas, constituencies or the country that they hope to represent. This is most successfully, and possibly exclusively, done by placing yourself at the heart of the community – not cynically, but actually; and instilling in the public the sense that the community’s concerns are also their concerns.
Here lies the only way of swinging votes back to the Conservative Party and creating new votes from age old Labour and Liberal supporters. Successful candidates will learn that the most important thing they can hear is not how many pledges they have in the run up to election day but instead, “I never thought I would vote Tory”, or “My Dad would turn in his grave if he knew I was voting for you!”
This is always a direct result of the movement of party politics to the centre. More and more people consider the main parties to be too close together to pick between. There is no doubt in the Party activist’s mind that ideological differences are as clear as ever, but in the public’s viewpoint there needs to be personal, individual aspects that convince voters.
This is nothing new to Conservatives. Traditionally Tories have always been at the heart of communities and society and of public service, we need to revert to doing what we do best. To be seen to have others’ interests at heart is to win respect and favour, to win respect and favour is to win votes.
Conservative Campaigning - what we do best!
As the Conservative Party faces its biggest electoral challenge for decades it must look to its campaigning techniques for success.
The Tory Party has long relied on mobilising the incredible number of activists it can call upon at any time. In recent years there has been a tendency to look at campaigning as purely an auditing process. The monotonous sequence of leafleting, canvassing, getting pledges and knocking up has taken the place of natural Conservative campaigning techniques.
Don’t get me wrong – these are very important actions – they are vital to success and we have proved time and again that the Conservatives have the best organisational processes and resources in modern British politics. However, they don’t swing votes and only here can we hope to win elections.
The Conservative Party needs to move back to what it does best; working hard in the community and demonstrating that hard work. The most powerful tools any person standing for election has are third party endorsements (from those not involved in party politics) and the ability to prove how hard they are working for the communities, be they wards, areas, constituencies or the country that they hope to represent. This is most successfully, and possibly exclusively, done by placing yourself at the heart of the community – not cynically, but actually; and instilling in the public the sense that the community’s concerns are also their concerns.
Here lies the only way of swinging votes back to the Conservative Party and creating new votes from age old Labour and Liberal supporters. Successful candidates will learn that the most important thing they can hear is not how many pledges they have in the run up to election day but instead, “I never thought I would vote Tory”, or “My Dad would turn in his grave if he knew I was voting for you!”
This is always a direct result of the movement of party politics to the centre. More and more people consider the main parties to be too close together to pick between. There is no doubt in the Party activist’s mind that ideological differences are as clear as ever, but in the public’s viewpoint there needs to be personal, individual aspects that convince voters.
This is nothing new to Conservatives. Traditionally Tories have always been at the heart of communities and society and of public service, we need to revert to doing what we do best. To be seen to have others’ interests at heart is to win respect and favour, to win respect and favour is to win votes.
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