Campaigning: smarter, better, winning?

I'm in Henley, at my County's campaign training day. As the weather is a bit grim, it's good to be inside.

Ros spoke first, an unscheduled speech only possible because she had to drop me off - Henley isn't easily accessible from Creeting St Peter - before Keith House took centre stage. He had very kindly driven up from Eastleigh to impart his accumulated wisdom on the subject of winning. Given that Eastleigh are very good at winning, there was much to make me think, "Yes, I can use that.". And I plan to do just that. He very kindly brought copies of some of the leaflets they have used in the past, and my future leaflets will benefit from their example.

After a very good lunch (pork pies were particularly welcome), we spent the afternoon learning about the nuts and bolts of a campaign - how to organise action days, how polling day should be managed, how social media can support your campaign. It's been an education, although I have been surprised at how much I've picked up over twenty-five years as a bureaucrat. Clearly, all of those meetings at local, regional and state levels have left their mark.

I've also realised that I need to be better integrated with my District and County Council Groups. Their efforts can, and probably should, inform my campaigning. Given that the Conservatives run both Mid Suffolk and Suffolk, I look forward to holding them to account, challenging their record (or lack thereof).

The immediate issue is candidate approval. Setting up panels is complicated by the requirement to include at least one councillor, one non-councillor and one member from outside the District. Given that I may be the only Parliamentary candidate assessor in the county, and have chaired approval panels in Haringey and Southwark, I might yet find myself conscripted...