It's my birthday, I'll survey if I want to...

And so all is ready for tomorrow. Maps are printed, bags are ready, we've even got EARS up and running - Ros picks this stuff up very quickly - there's soup in the kitchen and chili on the stove. Yes, it's the Stowupland Action Day when, for the first time in history, other people will be campaigning for... me.

Don't get me wrong, it all comes as a bit of a surprise, especially given my historic reticence to do 'retail politics', or even to be a candidate somewhere other than an utterly hopeless prospect. However, here we are, and although I technically need to be approved and adopted, I appear to be being treated as though this is my spot in the sunlight.

And perhaps that is as it should be. Until I arrived on the scene, there weren't really any plans to fight here, and I promised when I took it on that it would be a stand alone campaign, making no demands on the rest of the Local Party or the District, funded with my own money, delivered with my own shoe leather and that of my family.

I've obviously done something right though, as colleagues from across the District will be converging here to show some support. So it's up to me then...