Nine Days Later

Thoughts on my election run

It's been over a week since the General Election and it's been strange to adapt to its absence in my life. For the previous six weeks I was going out nearly every day, spending hours on the hunt for votes. I lived and breathed it, perhaps to an unhealthy degree for someone who realistically was not going to win. I talked to thousands of people and spent more money than I've ever spent on a political endeavour (although nowhere near the limit, I hasten to add).

And indeed, I did not win. The moment my tally was given at the count was a deflating one. I'd saved my deposit, and actually done quite well for a man mostly working alone, but it was still anticlimactic. As time has elapsed and words of encouragement from others have filtered through, I've become more comfortable with my 3037 votes. The election run seems like a worthwhile experience that will always stay with me. I've learned a lot and at I've done something most people haven't. My name was on the ballot and people voted for me. I do not regret it, and would most likely do it again.

But just like when I failed to be elected for Waltham Forest Council in 2022, there are a few 'what ifs' nibbling at me. In a campaign, a long-held game plan tends to fall apart as the days hurtle by and the end nears. Because Sunak had called a snap election, already my original plans were downgraded. As time marched on, the possibilities became less and less, and my steady campaigning pace became a mad sprint. I won't go into them here as they are trade secrets, but there were several things I didn't get quite right, which could have cost significant numbers of votes. I should have done them differently, and would do next time.

The other factor nibbling at me is a slight depression at the system. The winner was pretty much predestined as either Conservative or Labour. Nothing I could do, even with a larger support team, could circumvent their brand visibility, their spending or - in this case - the experience levels of their candidates. Even the Lib Dems, with their strong Epping voter base around a district councillor, bettered my vote share. Having seen the big three candidates at the hustings and scrutinised their literature, I resented their blandness, their evasiveness, their replies coached by head office. I despaired that people had voted for any of them, often without even looking into alternatives like me. The Tories' parachuted candidate from Carlisle took the biscuit (a nice enough chap though Neil Hudson comes across). It's odd that even Labour, against the national pattern, did not trouble his majority in the end.

But that's the way it is. The duopoly runs the show and it always will, assisted by the first-past-the-post model it keeps in place. What the smaller parties and independents can do is win skirmishes around the edges of the battlefield, build small outposts in councils and Parliament, and from there apply pressure. It's working for Reform UK in particular. Experiments like mine, should they succeed, can show people an alternative and gradually challenge voting habits.

My depression also extends to the national result. What Labour will do while in power is sure to be undesirable, disastrous even. Everything from so-called 'equality' legislation, to free speech, to energy, planning and foreign policy, carries real danger for our country. That ten million people would not recognise this and choose Starmer's party is perplexing to me. Having said that, I feel quite relaxed about the result I've been dreading for years. It is good that we've torn off the plaster, and the tension is gone. The Tories have received the electoral kicking they deserved, and can possibly rebuild along more conservative lines. Labour now have nowhere to hide, and their alleged 'grown up' competence will struggle to tackle the dire straits we're in. They may even do some things better - you never know - and I'll give credit where it’s owed. Lastly we have one Nigel Farage in Parliament, which will cause chaos among both parties' ranks and be most entertaining.

There are usually positives to a bad situation, and as human beings we are always learning. Struggle builds character. Doing something is better than doing nothing, and I would not have forgiven myself for the latter. We common sense folk must press-on, as happy warriors, confident that our cause is just and our positions will be vindicated. We must turn our 3,000 votes into the 20,000 we need to win, and take it from there.