Who'd be a Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate, eh?

In my spare time I have, for many years, performed the role of Returning Officer for Local Parties across the South East and, latterly, East of England. The job has seldom been glamorous, there are rarely hordes of candidates to consider - even in the good times - and there are inevitably seats where a candidate is parachuted in late in the day.

This year, however, it has been particularly trying in some ways for, whilst the quality of applicants has remained high, the quantity has become troublingly low. In some parts of the country, advertisements have gone unanswered and Local Parties who rely on having a PPC as a focus for their campaigning are having to make other arrangements.

In truth, though, we've never had a vast pool of wannabe Parliamentary candidates, even at the best of times, and heaven knows, these aren't them. And, with less to be optimistic about, it is harder to persuade candidates to come forward and commit to months, maybe years, of hard work in the run-up to a General Election. I can't blame them, personally.

Our main rivals don't appear to have such difficulties. Conservatives and Labour can offer safe seats, or career progression through relatively hopeless seats, in a way that we simply can't, or have the advantage of such strongly held views in hopeless areas that a candidate can be found. UKIP, because I only feel it right to (at least for the meantime) treat them as one of four major parties in England, have the passion of what they see as a great crusade to attract candidates.

Liberal Democrats, being the sort of people who think about such things have a degree of dispassion, are therefore less likely to be swept up in a burning desire to be a candidate. Often, in my experience, they consider it as something to be slotted into the rest of their lives and, given the likely costs - emotional, physical and financial - opt out. It appears, on the face of it, that you require a particularly single-minded focus in order to win a seat for the Liberal Democrats, a point that has often been noted in the past.

Ironically, that apparent requirement for borderline fanaticism acts as a disincentive for candidature, as we Liberal Democrats don't really do that - it isn't part of our DNA. The fact that it isn't entirely true is beside the point. Yes, a candidate in a winnable seat will have to work hard, very hard indeed, and they might not gain much, if any, reward at the end of it, but most of us always knew that anyway.

It never appealed to me - putting aside the nature of my other commitments - as I just couldn't muster the dedication and, now that I am exposed to the life of my Parliamentarian, albeit through the eyes of my wife, the life of an MP appears even less attractive, as a number of 2010 entrants to the Commons have already decided.

So, perhaps we need to look at this as a learning experience for the 2020 General Election, exploring ways in which candidates can have a better experience, finding more efficient ways of campaigning, and enabling a more diverse pool of potential candidates - something for our Presidential candidates to think about, might I suggest?