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qatsiA long post, which I shall break into sections.
I suppose it began last year. As a member of the Lib Dems, I was entitled to participate in our PPC selection for the new constituency of Reading West and Mid Berkshire. A curious combination which looked intent on splitting the non-Tory vote. Anyhow, some of our candidates more or less admitted it was unwinnable; Helen Belcher, on the other hand, thought it was. And I inclined to agree with her. I also thought she was considerably better than the other candidates at the hustings - in fact someone I thought we ought to have as an MP - so I had no difficulty in deciding where to place my vote. After some unseemly procedural shenanigans (which led to one of the others becoming an independent candidate) she was declared our candidate.
Sunak called an election in late May. A bizarre choice, given that his own party had been heavily defeated in the local elections some weeks previously. But then, it was also a bizarre choice to announce the election in the pouring rain. As John Crace and no doubt others put it, things can only get wetter.
A session was convened to bundle "thank you" leaflets for our local election result, not where I live but in Reading itself. "Please raise your hand if you are a Party member". Along with several others, I raised my hand. "Please keep your hand raised if you live in the [Parliamentary] constituency". My hand remained raised. "Good, you can sign Helen's nomination papers." Well, that escalated quickly, I thought. So I found myself nominating someone to stand for election as a Member of Parliament.
We were not a target seat. It is important to note that this does not mean we cannot win, it simply means that central funding will not come here, and that efforts will be focussed elsewhere. It should also be noted that, until early 2024, Labour also considered this a non-battleground seat.
So, on several occasions, I delivered leaflets for Wokingham, which was our nearest target seat. Because reasons, we also became the local warehouse for leaflets for RW&MB. Initially, the leaflet bundles did go down, but then they stalled. I walked rather a lot - in fact Google says 30 miles in June - of the mean streets of Burghfield and Mortimer, and got to know more of both villages than I have in 20 years.
We noticed that Labour were turning out literature much more actively. There was only token activity from the Tories, Green, and Reform candidates.
Mortimer turned out to be quite hazardous. On one occasion, my leafleting spatula was confiscated by a dog. A week later, I had an unfortunate accident. The house in question had a noisy and energetic dog, which I could see was beyond a fence, but all the same I was keen to exit. The garden also had a gate. And a thick and impenetrable hedge of holly. There was no pavement on the road outside. After ensuring I had closed the gate, I saw and heard nothing. Then, Bang!
Something really bad has just happened.
Have I just been hit by a car?
I am still alive, although I'm a bit sore in places. Nothing seems to be missing.
That was definitely the low-light of the campaign. After shakily exchanging details and observing the entrails of the broken wing mirror on the ground, I carried on my way, believing I had escaped with only cuts and bruises. A couple of days later, my toes were an interesting colour and via NHS 111 I spent some quality time at West Berkshire Community Hospital, where it was confirmed that nothing was broken.
On polling day itself, I spent some time as a teller. Interestingly, Labour were also telling in the morning peak. In the morning, I had the sense things weren't going our way; in the evening, it seemed a bit more encouraging. I found it interesting that Labour were visibly "knocking up" in the evening.
I had expressed an interest in going to the count. As the local authority containing the majority of both constituencies, Newbury was counting both Newbury itself and RW&MB. So I thought I had a fair chance of observing at least one, and possibly two, Lib Dem victories in person. It was an interesting experience. From the perspective of those officiating, the process is divided into verifying and counting phases. But from the perspective of partisan observers, the process is divided into counting and verifying, respectively. It was a bit intimidating to start with, although a briefing earlier in the week helped considerably, and after a short while I think I found my stride. But it was a bit depressing - we were clearly well beaten, and Reform were doing disturbingly well.
We had declarations for both constituencies at around 6am. The Lib Dems had gained Newbury - hooray! But Labour had taken RW&MB, and we had come fourth. Time to go home, rest, and reflect.
We had always been aware that the Labour candidate had worked in Keir Starmer's office, and there had been a bit of a smell around the modelling of tactical vote sites (which are widely acknowledged to have a pro-Labour bias) and effort going into this constituency. It later transpired that despite advice, Labour had directed from the top to make this a target seat. Personally, with few exceptions I'd rather be represented by a Labour than Conservative MP - not everyone feels this way, and they have their reasons - but I am unconvinced that we have a great representative as a result of this election.
Nationally and regionally, it's a great result for the party, and I should try to remember that. It's just my bad luck to live in one of the few places where circumstances combined badly against us.
I suppose it began last year. As a member of the Lib Dems, I was entitled to participate in our PPC selection for the new constituency of Reading West and Mid Berkshire. A curious combination which looked intent on splitting the non-Tory vote. Anyhow, some of our candidates more or less admitted it was unwinnable; Helen Belcher, on the other hand, thought it was. And I inclined to agree with her. I also thought she was considerably better than the other candidates at the hustings - in fact someone I thought we ought to have as an MP - so I had no difficulty in deciding where to place my vote. After some unseemly procedural shenanigans (which led to one of the others becoming an independent candidate) she was declared our candidate.
Sunak called an election in late May. A bizarre choice, given that his own party had been heavily defeated in the local elections some weeks previously. But then, it was also a bizarre choice to announce the election in the pouring rain. As John Crace and no doubt others put it, things can only get wetter.
A session was convened to bundle "thank you" leaflets for our local election result, not where I live but in Reading itself. "Please raise your hand if you are a Party member". Along with several others, I raised my hand. "Please keep your hand raised if you live in the [Parliamentary] constituency". My hand remained raised. "Good, you can sign Helen's nomination papers." Well, that escalated quickly, I thought. So I found myself nominating someone to stand for election as a Member of Parliament.
We were not a target seat. It is important to note that this does not mean we cannot win, it simply means that central funding will not come here, and that efforts will be focussed elsewhere. It should also be noted that, until early 2024, Labour also considered this a non-battleground seat.
So, on several occasions, I delivered leaflets for Wokingham, which was our nearest target seat. Because reasons, we also became the local warehouse for leaflets for RW&MB. Initially, the leaflet bundles did go down, but then they stalled. I walked rather a lot - in fact Google says 30 miles in June - of the mean streets of Burghfield and Mortimer, and got to know more of both villages than I have in 20 years.
We noticed that Labour were turning out literature much more actively. There was only token activity from the Tories, Green, and Reform candidates.
Mortimer turned out to be quite hazardous. On one occasion, my leafleting spatula was confiscated by a dog. A week later, I had an unfortunate accident. The house in question had a noisy and energetic dog, which I could see was beyond a fence, but all the same I was keen to exit. The garden also had a gate. And a thick and impenetrable hedge of holly. There was no pavement on the road outside. After ensuring I had closed the gate, I saw and heard nothing. Then, Bang!
Something really bad has just happened.
Have I just been hit by a car?
I am still alive, although I'm a bit sore in places. Nothing seems to be missing.
That was definitely the low-light of the campaign. After shakily exchanging details and observing the entrails of the broken wing mirror on the ground, I carried on my way, believing I had escaped with only cuts and bruises. A couple of days later, my toes were an interesting colour and via NHS 111 I spent some quality time at West Berkshire Community Hospital, where it was confirmed that nothing was broken.
On polling day itself, I spent some time as a teller. Interestingly, Labour were also telling in the morning peak. In the morning, I had the sense things weren't going our way; in the evening, it seemed a bit more encouraging. I found it interesting that Labour were visibly "knocking up" in the evening.
I had expressed an interest in going to the count. As the local authority containing the majority of both constituencies, Newbury was counting both Newbury itself and RW&MB. So I thought I had a fair chance of observing at least one, and possibly two, Lib Dem victories in person. It was an interesting experience. From the perspective of those officiating, the process is divided into verifying and counting phases. But from the perspective of partisan observers, the process is divided into counting and verifying, respectively. It was a bit intimidating to start with, although a briefing earlier in the week helped considerably, and after a short while I think I found my stride. But it was a bit depressing - we were clearly well beaten, and Reform were doing disturbingly well.
We had declarations for both constituencies at around 6am. The Lib Dems had gained Newbury - hooray! But Labour had taken RW&MB, and we had come fourth. Time to go home, rest, and reflect.
We had always been aware that the Labour candidate had worked in Keir Starmer's office, and there had been a bit of a smell around the modelling of tactical vote sites (which are widely acknowledged to have a pro-Labour bias) and effort going into this constituency. It later transpired that despite advice, Labour had directed from the top to make this a target seat. Personally, with few exceptions I'd rather be represented by a Labour than Conservative MP - not everyone feels this way, and they have their reasons - but I am unconvinced that we have a great representative as a result of this election.
Nationally and regionally, it's a great result for the party, and I should try to remember that. It's just my bad luck to live in one of the few places where circumstances combined badly against us.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-08 09:07 am (UTC)I agree that Helen Belcher is excellent. I've seen her speak a few times at conference fringe events. I hope she will indeed become an MP one day.