A bureaucrat takes to the campaign trail...

I have to remind myself sometimes that the very thought of me campaigning would, in the past, have been somewhat unlikely. Whilst this is my sixth General Election as a member of the Liberal Democrats, I was somewhat semi-detached in 1992 and 2001, and can hardly claim to have been hugely active in 1987, 1997 or even 2005, when despite being the agent and Local Party Chair, I dealt with the bureaucracy rather than being an active campaigner for our candidate, Jonathan Mitchell. Indeed, I spent the morning of polling day at work, as it didn't seem worth taking the leave for a full day.


This year, it will be slightly different. Naturally, you would expect the senior Party figures to be on the road, as part of what has been known in the past as 'Star Tours'. Indeed, at the last election, Ros was a core part of the team that organised them. This time, she is one of the people being organised and I am her 'minder' for want of a better phrase.


I come equipped with BlackBerry, laptop and mini camcorder, and I'll be attempting to ensure that Ros gets to where she is supposed to be, deal with hotels, taxis and all of the other stuff. So, if she isn't where she's supposed to be, it'll probably be my fault...