You know how it is when your friend arranges a blind date. That slightly nervous anticipation. Will they like me? Will I enjoy their company? Will my jokes get the right reaction? Do I have spinach in my teeth? Do we both have the same expectations from any future relationship?
And so it was that I found myself on an evening train to High Wycombe, running a little late due to a delayed inbound service. However, I made it to the meeting point on time, and was pleasantly surprised to receive a warm welcome. A cup of coffee later, and we were chatting away as though we'd known each other for years. And that's how the relationship between a Local Party Executive and its Returning Officer should be...
Most of us love our Local Parties, despite their foibles and eccentricities. We tolerate amateurism in a way that we would never do in our businesses, remembering as we do, that these people are volunteers, sometimes doing things because nobody else will. It is, in many ways, a bit like a marriage. You compromise on your ideals because the relationship means something and is worth the occasional inconvenience.
And this evening, I kind of fell in love with Wycombe Liberal Democrats. They may be small in number, and up against the vast battalions of true blue Buckinghamshire, but their sheer enthusiasm and energy is well nigh impossible to resist. It would be so easy for them to despair, but they had a good round of local elections this year, making gains in an otherwise difficult year for Liberal Democrats, and are genuinely excited at what their new councillors are achieving for their constituents.
And if I can help them find an equally enthusiastic PPC over the coming months, all the better...
Thank you for your warm words! We are grateful that you are willing to travel so far to be our RO, when you clearly do so much for the party already!
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