Alright, I've picked myself up, dusted myself off and am focused on the horizon. However, there is some unfinished business before I set off on the next leg of the journey. Yes, it's time to thank those whose contributions made the campaign as successful as it was...
Firstly, I should start with the people who set me loose on an unsuspecting District council ward, David Chappell, our then PPC, Kathy Pollard, the Leader of our County Group, Penny Otton, the Leader of our District Group, and Martin Redbond, our agent and campaign guru. They told me that I could start campaigning with official approval, so I did.
Kathy introduced me to PagePlus and gave me my first lesson in how to use it to produce the first leaflet. Tim Lockington, the Chair of the Local Party in Ipswich, printed it and Ros and I delivered it. Tim went on print the second and third leaflets on his Riso, and one day, he might even tell me how much I owe him...
Our first action day was co-ordinated by Martin, and many thanks to Keith Scarff, David Payne, Wendy Marchant, Mike and Sheila Norris, all of whom came to help me fly the flag.
Jamie and Brij, my stepson and son-in-law, delivered leaflets at key moments, Sally provided me with useful artwork from her back catalogue of Libdemmery.
During the campaign, Phil Stevens, Daniel Brown, Grace Goodlad and Sam Webber all graciously gave up some of their spare time to telephone canvass on my behalf, allowing me to confirm that my own canvassing wasn't hopelessly over-optimistic, and Matthew Hanney, from Nick's office, came all the way to Mid Suffolk to help out with the final leaflet delivery and do a little canvassing besides. Yes, we did bribe him with cake, but he was worth it...
But, ultimately, the most important person in the entire campaign was Ros. She cajoled, advised, directed and inspired my efforts, and her wealth of knowledge in terms of campaigning and, in particular, rural campaigning, prevented me from making an idiot of myself. She delivered leaflets, even whilst fulfilling her duties as Party President, took on greater and greater shares of the household chores to free me up to design leaflets, canvass voters and deliver the message, and was generally amazing.
She also, in the midst of it all, found the man who printed the rest of the leaflets at, of all places the South West Regional Conference in Plymouth. Ian Gillett printed the calendars, based on a design he supplied, and then printed all of the leaflets from then on, recommending changes as he saw fit, redesigning the 'out leaflet' altogether, and doing it all without fuss, at remarkably low cost and in a timely way. If anyone wants his contact details, feel free to get in touch...
So, thank you to you all, and thank you to the voters of Stowupland and Creeting St Peter, who gave me a polite, and sometimes warm welcome on the doorstep, turned out in significant numbers to vote for someone they barely knew, and gave me sufficient encouragement to carry on.
And now, freed from the necessity to dedicate vast chunks of my life to the campaign, I can dedicate vast chunks of my life to Ros. Because she's worth it...
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