If You want My Vote Tell me Why

Like every other conference rep I got my Federal Party Committee Election papers today. One thing that constantly upsets me is that some candidates don't seem to be able to apply their experience to what they can bring to the post.

These are elections where to be fair most of the electorate have a pretty good chance of knowing a number of candidates. In fact a fair few of the electorate propably have no difficulty is putting down enough prefeerences to fill all the potential palces and possibly then some. After all the electorate does tend to largely congregate twice a year, or at least those most likely to vote do. The electorate also is pretty au fait with electioneering.

So if you want to grab my attention and I haven't had the priveledge to meet you in say Harrogate or Bournemouth in the last year or so you need to tell me why you deserve my vote. The same is probably true for a large number of other reps. Some candidates did manage make me pay them attention, some made it easy for me not to even give them a preference.

To be fair to all, especially as I was otherwise occupied for Blackpool this year, I have actually read every single manifesto. Now I may be on the approved candidates list but I also what committee members that are good for the normal party member. Especially if they show concern for those from around here who aren't prepared to travel for 13 hours to get to a South Coast conference. Some of our candidates had good idea for inclusion.

I want candidates who clearly have thought through the objectives of the committee or committees for which they are standing and how they can benefit that committee and the party. Again some of our candidtes demonstrated this very clearly and left me in no doubt as to their suitability.

Some however, made me wonder what sort of campaigns they have actually been involved in. Having working in target seats, by election and even in so called black holes I shudder at what some of these people are expecting to acheive through literature. Even getting some other people to look at it before sending it off would have given them enough feedback to re-edit.

Anyway I waded through since getting home from work and give preferences as far as I thought merited my vote and my ballots are now winging their way to Cowley Street first class.

Wow! I Becoming Google Famous

Someone told me that I was shooting up the google search list again. So overcoming my modesty I put my name in and found I had shot up to number 2 behind a non-existant site.

I'd better keep up blogging to keep my position.

Return to the Gym

Well I've just been to my induction for my new gym. This is the third gym of which I am a menber and this one gives me access to all of West Lothian sports facilities across the county which is good.

The equipment is on a technokey so there is no skiving, not that I as an ex-athlete would attempt to try that.

I'm now sure how I'll be able to hours of delivering leaflets but I'm sure I'll soon find out. However, I'm not sure the system could have handled walking, hig intensity, duration 12 hours for 29 September. Even though that is about the long and the short of what I recently did on polling day.

Linlithgow Heading for Snarl Up

Further congestion is all that Linlithgow residents can look forward to for the foreseeable future. The Scottish Executive has announced a blanket presumption against new motorway junctions as part of its Scottish Planning Policy. The means that the must hoped for all way-junction on the M9 at Burghmuir, to the East of the town, appears dead and buried.

Neither West Lothian Council nor the Scottish Executive are prepared to put up the funding required to meet the growing demands of development in the town funnelling extra traffic through town to reach the local approach for traffic to the West.

A 1993 report by Halcrow Fox predicted a 25 per cent reduction in traffic through Linlithgow High Street if Burghmuir was made an all-points junction. Considering the increase in population in parts of Linlithgow since 1993 and the plans for more these figures may very well be underestimates by now.

Much as I campaign for public transport I realise that the way the road management around Linlithgow was initially planned, and has since been developed, is proving to be a farce. It is just another example of one consideration for Livingston at the heart of local governemnt and another for the outlying council areas.

Livingston Upon Reflection

I've taken a few days off posting as a well earned rest. I'm sure nobody will begrudge me that. After all when I returned to the office after the count by right ankle had swollen up and not moving in any intelligent direction, but I still got up the following morning to start removing the posters.

How did we do?

We held our share of the vote up from the may election, without the backgraound data and party machines that both Labour and the SNP have in place across West Lothian.

We were not squeezed. Traditionally in Scottish seats when we have faced these two party's they have gained all the media attention (something they largely did this time), they have the press talking about them as potential winners and us as nowhere (this happened again), and our vote share goes down often to close or actually losing our deposit. That did not happen here so we acheived our promary objective.

The SNP got roughly the same vote they acheived in May. As I said above they have the data to know exactly who their vote is, they appear done a good job in getting that vote out. The fact that I saw them from late morning chapping (knocking for the non-Scots) their vote up shows that even to do that they were stretching themselves.

We didn't close the gap on the SNP here as a result. That was disappointing as people were telling us on doorsteps that after voting for Robin Cook they were not sure about Jim Devine and were thought or intended to vote for us. It appears that a number of those traditional Cok voters just did not bother to vote at all and are waiting to see how the new MP does before returning to the polls.

The canmpaign was busy, lively and fun to work on. It could have been busier if more people had come to help out. If we'd had more people and or had what we had earlier the literature would have gone out faster allowing more time for meeting people on their doorsteps to get down to the nitty gritty of telling them why we were the best alternative for them.

In the areas we did put a lot of work our vote increased considerably from our samples. This is a very encouraging thing especially as we are going to be fighting the 2007 council elections under Single Transferable Vote.

So I think we did what we could but with more support we could have done better. But hats off to a big thank you to everyone who did help we couldn't have done as well as we did without you.

How can you trust...

...an MP who's election team ignore local by-laws which govern the election?

Ignore a direct call from the returning officer's team to take action? (Especially as other parties did)

Who has avoided the tough questions, in person, for his new constituents?

Who has used mob tactics at various opportunities instead of relying on democracy?

I feel these are questions for my new MP to answer.

Scotsman Thinks Labour Activists Deserve an ASBO

Labour activists were at their worst again yesterday on a Charles Kennedy walkabout, The Scotsman likened it to anti-social behaviour. Whereas Labour still mob attack places (although not yet to take down their illegal posters) the Liberal Democrats tend to go in small groups so that hte candidate can meet the public, difficult to do this with a baying mob doing their utmost to prevent the democratic process.

At last night hustings in Deans South Jim Devine turned up late after everyone was seated, surrounded by minders and left early so as to avoid any contact with real voters. Livingston does not need an MP who is not prepared to meet angry voters who will run scared at every sign of opposition. It is clear that Devine is no Robin Cook as Robin would have been in there to listen to criticism and take action.

In less than 24 hours the people of Livingston must start making their choice. They can either elect the Ostrich wearing the red rossette or an MP who is prepared to meet them, listen to them and campaign on their behalf, not of his Union or Party and be distant.