Campaign Diary: Day 10 - getting that all important first leaflet out

A bunch of nice shiny leaflets had arrived, and whilst there is a network of local deliverers out there who very kindly deliver our leaflets (and yes, they really are delivered by local supporters), there are always likely to be gaps, if only because people are away, or busy, or just can't get them out as quickly as is required during a by-election.

Luckily, as I have set myself the goal was walking 10,000 steps each day (and 12,500 in May), I was only too happy to fill some of the gaps in. I wasn't alone, with some of our key activists pitching in to get the job done.

I actually enjoy delivering leaflets. You can maintain a nice steady pace, listen to a little music as you walk and, helpfully, you're bound to meet people who can be canvassed for their support. In Barking and Somersham, that is made easier by the fact that people are used to Liberal Democrats, and vote for them too, given an opportunity and the right candidate.

As the candidate, I always think that it's important to be fairly self-sufficient and, besides, people aren't used to seeing candidates about the place. I have been told a number of times already that "we don't see very many candidates here", and I tend to the view that, if you can meet people, you should. After all, if you want them to vote for you, you should give them a chance to "look you in the eye", as it were.

And I have the advantage of being pretty amiable - I find people really interesting, so making conversation comes relatively easily, even with people who aren't likely to vote for me. Besides, a District Councillor has to represent all of the people, not just those that vote for them...

I got home to reports that the leaflet was safely going through doors across the ward. The campaign was running as smoothly as I could hope... 

Campaign Diary: Day 9 - I have a Candidate Manager

Whilst you have to have an agent to take care of the technical and legal stuff, and I'm lucky enough to have a very good one in Martin Redbond, it also helps to have someone to manage the candidate. That isn't to, say, tell them what to do, but instead to ensure that the candidate's time is used efficiently. And that's where Ros comes in.

Ros has, of course, done this before. She probably has the t-shirt somewhere to prove it, and knows what needs to be done. As the candidate, there is a danger in having so many tasks to juggle that you either lose track of some or all of them in the whirlwind that is a short campaign, or you risk being overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the enterprise.

Ros has firmly suggested that a diary is necessary, and written a fairly detailed plan of what might happen when, so as to ensure that everything that could be done actually happens, and that has taken a lot of weight off of my shoulders, allowing me to keep campaigning. She has also taken on some of the organizing tasks, making sure that the leaflets go out, as well as joining me on the doorstep in Offton and Barking.

And it's also been a help on the doorstep to introduce myself as Ros's husband, as she is clearly still remembered by local residents from her three terms as their County Councillor. I never cease to me amazed by the number of people who have worked with her on some project or another, or who tell me that they voted for her. I can only aspire to be as good as she was, if I do win on 2 June.

Campaign Diary: Day 8 - finding your way around a village

One of the things about urban campaigning that I don't miss was that finding things was pretty easy. Streets are clearly named, houses have numbers. Villages are not always like that and, as a result, canvassing can be made rather more difficult than it might be. Barking is like that, a long, fairly linear village, where there are very few numbers - Fox Meadow and Tye Green are the only two clusters that come immediately to mind. So, how do you find them? What you need is a map. Technology will help to a certain extent, but local knowledge is far better.

Thursday saw me canvassing postal voters. There are approximately 250 postal voters in Barking and Somersham ward, and as the turnout among such voters tends to be about 75% in Mid Suffolk, as opposed to a more likely 30% among those obliged to vote in person, if you can do well with postal voters, you have a decided advantage. And, because they vote early, you have less time to canvass them. Thus, I wasn't knocking on every door - I had some particular addresses to find. 

The evening started off well, if somewhat accidentally, when I knocked on the first door, only to find that the postal voter listed had moved. However, the very friendly lady who answered the door seemed happy to tell me that I could count on her support. 

I made my way northwards, until I ran into a voter who had been helped by the outgoing Conservative Councillor. Not a natural Conservative, she was a reminder that, in rural seats, a record of hard work and attentiveness to local issues can trump political allegiance. Note that I use the word 'can', as it isn't a given, but it does help, especially in the world of rural districts, where wards are small (about 1,800 in Mid Suffolk) and issues more personal.

Into the second week, I was beginning to build some momentum...

Campaign Diary: Day 7 - a night out in Baylham

Baylham is in the south-eastern corner of Barking and Somersham ward, and I had already attended a coffee morning on day 3 of the campaign. However, the Parish Meeting was just four days later, and I had promised to attend.

The sun was shining on one of those beautiful May evenings that you could just bottle and store for a February afternoon when you've begun to despair of ever seeing blue sky again, and I was back at Old Cattle Market bus station for another ride. This time, it was the 88A, operated by First Group, which was my ride. The bus doesn't stop in the middle of Baylham, sticking as it does to the main road for Needham Market, but it does drop you at the bottom of Upper Street and, on a sunny day, I was up for the stroll into the village.

Upper Street undulates its way uphill and down, before the final rise into the village, but it is well worth the walk, as Baylham is one of Suffolk's prettier, if less well known villages. My destination was the home of Parish Meeting Chair, John Field, who is one of the four Liberal Democrat Councillors on Mid Suffolk District Council and also the County Councillor for Gipping Valley.

An outtake from the campaign - you'll be
pleased to hear that we didn't use this one...

After a restorative cup of tea, my agent, Martin Redbond, and Julia Truelove, our County Councillor for Bosmere, arrived and work commenced. Photographs were taken for leaflets, intelligence shared, before we headed for the Village Hall, looking for all the world like a group of old friends out for a stroll of an evening.

There were rather more people present at the Hall than I had expected. To be honest, in some villages, the Parish Council can be seen as less than entirely thrilling political theatre. You are, it must be admitted, unlikely to witness dramatic events, hear stirring peroration, or determine the fate of nations. And yet, quietly, decisions are taken that impact on the quality of local lives - new play equipment, the clearing of footpaths, lobbying over planning issues. Clearly, the residents of Baylham were engaged. I introduced myself to some of them, and renewed acquaintances with others from Saturday.

John opened the meeting by welcoming the two guests, Julia and myself, and said a few kind words about me, before giving the floor to the various village groups to report. Even the quietest village runs on the effort of its volunteers, and there is much more going on than meets the eye. Church groups, the Village Hall Committee, footpath groups, you name it, someone is taking care of it. John was re-elected as Chair - I got a clear sense that his neighbours are more than happy to let him continue - and the meeting ran pretty smoothly.

As the evening ended, the campaign felt more manageable, and the way ahead felt clearer. And, with a good night's sleep, I began to look forward with something akin to optimism.  

Campaign Diary: Day 6 - in which the candidate draws breath

The thing about unexpected by-elections is that you have to hit the ground running. A rudimentary campaign plan is agreed, and you set to work. But, with any hastily drawn up plan, things change as events unfold, especially if you need to contend with the fact that other people might have plans of their own. That includes your opponents.

And so, if you're sensible, you stop, recalibrate, and work out how best to use your time. Good preparation means that you can avoid wasting valuable time later, especially as, in a four week campaign, you really don't have time to spare. As the candidate, you set a lead too, so you need to preserve your energy and make sure that you pace yourself properly.

Tuesday evening, therefore, was set aside for research. Issues were already known, thanks mainly to the fact that Liberal Democrats have been active in the ward over more than two decades - you tend to pick things up simply by having a visible presence and doing the hard yards of casework, attendance at parish and other meetings and active participation in community life.

Therefore, the focus was on making sure that I attended events across the ward. May is Annual Parish Meeting time across Mid Suffolk, something which is taken pretty seriously, especially in those villages which don't have a fully constituted Parish Council (Baylham, Darmsden and Nettlestead). Annual Parish Meetings offer an opportunity for local people to question their local politicians, find out what community groups are up to and make their views known. They are attended by the very people most likely to vote in local elections - engaged, community-minded.

If you're a County Councillor, you can expect to have a very full diary, and even a District Councillor can expect to have to find time to attend as many as possible. My diary was filling up...

Campaign Diary: Day 5 - canvassing proper begins...

There may not be a lot of people who know that a surprising amount of Barking and Somersham ward is linked by a proper bus service. Ipswich Buses operate, with County Council support, route 111, which runs from Ipswich to Hitcham Causeway, and passes through Somersham, Willisham and Barking in doing so. It does also serve the Limeburners at Offton, but that's a fifteen minute walk from the village, so it isn't exactly useful if you're less than fully mobile. But, if you're a non-driver, as I am, and you need to get to Somersham to start your canvassing, it's a very useful service indeed, even if it only runs four times per day.

And so, I made sure that I was at Ipswich's Old Cattle Market bus station in time to catch the 5.40 p.m. bus. Having paid my extremely reasonable £1.80 fare, I sat back to enjoy the ride.

The timetable doesn't leave a lot of slack for rush hour traffic in Ipswich, and we were running a bit late by the time we reached my stop in Somersham. There was a hint of rain in the air too, but I set off to call on postal voters with a spring in my step.

As I've already noted, they aren't always conveniently in, and so I had prepared a small leaflet to post through the door if there wasn't anyone in. At least if they know I've called, they might appreciate that I did try to reach them and, at a time when politicians are as likely to knock on your door as once they might have been, I do think that making the effort is both worthwhile and valued.

I also called at the home of my Labour opponent, Will Marsburg, as much to introduce myself as anything. Will is young, enthusiastic about politics, and was happy to talk. It's important that young people engage in politics because, whilst pressure groups have their place in civil society, the people they seek to pressure are politicians.

I couldn't stop for long though, because there is a limited window for canvassing in the evening - you don't want to be knocking on the doors of, in particular, elderly people as darkness falls - and I had plenty of doors to knock on. The rain clouds were gathering over the Gipping Valley though, and I eventually called it a day, just as a steady rain fell from a rather gloomy sky.

I had found some Liberal Democrat supporters though - a very good evening's work indeed.

Campaign Diary: Day 4 - getting to grips with the mechanics...

It even includes a picture of me
looking warm and friendly...

I'm a rather old-fashioned sort of a political activist. Don't insult your opponents, make yourself visible, listen to people rather than tell them what they want (what you might think they want isn't always what they actually want), those are the sorts of principles I like to try and espouse in my politics.

However, modern campaigning is rather more complex than simply knocking on doors and talking to people. For one thing, people are harder to find, with their busy lives, often both parents working, and, as a full-time employee, I only have a relatively limited amount of time to get around the 1,750 or so voting residents of seven villages, some of them relatively remote, or at the end of farm tracks. In an unexpected four week campaign, it is impossible to personally meet everyone.

A leaflet is the thing, but it has to be designed, and content written. Technology helps, and the emergence of relatively easy to use publishing software makes it all a bit easier. But, it's only a bit easier, and coming up with some clear messages and laying them out so that they look attractive on the eye takes time. You also need photographs, and, luckily, Martin, my agent, has a good camera and an eye for a decent shot of your candidate. Admittedly, I don't offer much to work with - I've never been particularly keen on being photographed and much prefer to be behind a camera rather than in front of it - but Martin managed to get some usable pictures.

And so, a leaflet was produced... It's a big step forward for the campaign, and I hope that voters will find the time to read it.

Campaign Diary: Day 3 - my first campaign event

And so, Ros and I set off for Baylham yesterday morning. The sun was shining and the Gipping Valley was resplendent, with fields full of oil-seed rape in Liberal Democrat yellow (mere coincidence, I assure you), and the foliage that shade of green that you get before the summer sun starts to fade it, crisp and lush. I was reminded that May is my favourite time of year in these parts.

Baylham is a village of about two hundred and fifty people, in the south-east corner of the ward. Until 2005 or so, it was in the Gipping Valley county division but boundary changes meant that it was added to Bosmere at the time that Ros gave up that division. It is home to John Field, one of the four Liberal Democrats on Mid Suffolk District Council, and also the County Councillor for Gipping Valley, and, as I walked up the steps and into the Village Hall, there he was, waiting to introduce me to some of his neighbours.

Campaigning is not something that comes easily to a lot of people. Putting a leaflet through a door is one thing, but actually talking to people, many of whom you might not know, can be pretty daunting, especially if you haven't done it for a little while. Luckily, most people I've met in mid-Suffolk are pretty friendly, and it wasn't long before I was introducing myself to people as they stood and chatted, "Hi, I'm Mark, the Liberal Democrat candidate in the by-election in four weeks time."

Word had got around that David Card had resigned, even though they hadn't yet heard that a by-election had been called, and they seemed happy to talk.

Village halls are at the core of community life but they can be difficult to maintain, especially for smaller villages. They're often relatively elderly, hard to keep warm and need refurbishment. For example, Baylham's was built in 1927 of wooden construction and was refurbished in 1993. It costs about £1,500 per annum to cover the cost of light, heat, water and insurance, and that's before you consider maintenance costs.

Money has to be raised by holding events, hosting parties and events, and that is done by a clutch of volunteers who work tirelessly to keep everything ticking over. And, when so many couples both work, there is less time to support the fabric of their community. Many villages rely on the enthusiasm of a small hardcore of individuals to ensure that vital village facilities and institutions are there to serve the community and, if I were to be elected on 2 June, one of my key aims would be to support the village communities across the ward to keep village halls going.

I did get to eat my cake, eventually (note, I skipped breakfast so that I could have cake instead and stick to my diet), and I have to say that it was a very good Victoria sponge, nice and light, good jam filling.

Fortified, and happier for having got the campaign off to a good start, I thanked John and Kay, his wife and our stalwart Local Party Secretary, for inviting me, and Ros and I set off for a drive around the villages, as much to look at them in terms of how best to organise my visits over the coming weeks.

There are seven villages that, together, form the Barking and Somersham ward. Barking runs south-west from the edge of Needham Market, and includes the opera house at Kennels Farm, home of the Barrandov Opera, of which I have written in the past. Offton and Willisham come next, two villages sharing a parish council, and then, as you turn towards Ipswich, you reach Somersham, the largest village in the ward. Nettlestead is then slightly north of Somersham, before a drive through narrow country lanes brings you back to Baylham. Last, but certainly not least, is Darmsden. This is the smallest village in the ward although, in truth, it's more of a hamlet at the end of a narrow lane that runs of the old Ipswich to Stowmarket road.

We stopped in Somersham to visit the Community Shop. When Ros was the county councillor, she worked hard to protect the old village shop, gaining rate relief and doing whatever she could to keep it viable. Sadly, it eventually closed in 2007, but, thanks to a dedicated campaign group, the Somersham and District Community Shop opened in 2012 as a Community Interest Company, run by volunteers. We were keen to see what the District Council could do to ease the regulatory burden upon them, so we dropped in to talk and buy a soft drink each.

So, having gotten a sense of how I'm going to organise my campaign, it was time to head for home. There were leaflets to design, lists to write... for tomorrow was another day...

Campaign Diary: Day 2 - a man with a plan

So, I was the candidate. The forms were in, and I was official. So far, so good. But you can't just go out there and 'be the candidate', you have to be organised. So, I did some research and organised my diary, so that I could dedicate the required amount of time to the campaign - there were less than four weeks until polling day, so time is of the essence.

My fellow Liberal Democrats weren't idle either, with a campaign group meeting called, whilst Ros put her vast experience to work on drawing up a strategy document.

We gathered at the home of one of our local councillors and a plan was thrashed out, what we could do, who might do it and when it might be done. The other candidates were briefly discussed and the possibilities assessed before agreement was reached and jobs assigned.

I have an agent, Martin Redbond, who has done this many times, and I have a set of instructions, which I will follow.

The campaign plan? You'll pardon me if I'm not very specific. However, I intend to play my part over the next four weeks, and I'm enthusiastic to start... 

Campaign Diary: Day 1 - a candidate is selected

There had been rumours that the sitting Conservative district councillor for Barking and Somersham was less than entirely happy. But, having been interested in politics for a long time, you learn not to get too excited. After all, David Card had only been elected last May. And then, on the Monday before the May Bank Holiday, word got out that he had indeed handed in his resignation.

The next day, the notice of election was issued, with the closing date for nominations set as yesterday.  And I decided that I should offer myself as the candidate. After all, it's important that someone who is willing to fight a by-election campaign and, equally importantly, is willing to be a district councillor if they're lucky enough to win, comes forward. And, besides, Barking and Somersham forms part of Ros's former county division, Bosmere, so there is a connection.

And so it was that, on Thursday afternoon, accompanied by the very same Cllr Wendy Marchant who recruited Ros to the Liberal Democrats in 1990, I presented myself at the offices of Mid Suffolk District Council to submit my nomination papers and have them validated. And yes, they were in order, as you would expect from a group of people who have doing this for a long time.

The Liberal Democrat candidate for Barking and Somersham was official, the first goal achieved. But not the last...

"Building a Better Walrus" - getting back on the right path, just a little more of it

So, April was not a month in which I made a lot of progress. Yes, I walked my ten thousand steps every day and yes, I kept my fluid intake nice and high, but I didn't lose any weight.

And so, I've decided to get the program back on track in May by walking 12,500 steps each day, and watching what I eat a bit more. Nothing dramatic, you understand, and only for this month because, ultimately, it has to be sustainable.

How am I going to walk those extra steps? Well, there's been a development...

"Building a Better Walrus" - clinging to the wreckage...

It would be fair to say that April wasn't a great month for the program - too many cooked breakfasts, meals that wouldn't normally get eaten, the usual complications of maintaining a healthy diet whilst travelling. So, the bad news first - I ended April where I began it. The good news - I ended April where I began it.

What this demonstrates is that, if I maintain my 10,000 steps regime, and eat sensibly otherwise, I can sustain the occasional holiday when I suspend the diet, which is very good news indeed.

And so, onwards and downwards, with any luck, as I have a month without travel to renew my focus. Wish me luck...

European Selection: starting as I mean to go on...

I am a cautious soul, something which comes with being a bureaucrat, I guess. And so, having got my head around being a Returning Officer again, my first thought was to read the rules and work out how the proposed schedule fits into the rest of my life.

My first thought was, "I really need to talk to the Regional Executive.", as they appoint a shortlisting committee which is subject to my approval (I am tasked with ensuring that it is properly reflective of the Regional Party's membership). The Regional Executive is expected to appoint the shortlisting committee in a window that opened on 6 March and closes on 30 April. Given that I was only notified of my appointment on 3 April, my first problem was apparent, in that there could already have been a nominated shortlisting committee in place.

So, being an organised sort of person, I contacted the Regional Chair to see if they had done anything about this, only to be told, in no uncertain manner, that the Regional Party had other, more pressing, concerns - I can't help but agree that the London Mayoral and Assembly elections are rather more obviously important just now.

However, this does mean that I can fulfil the obligation laid down by paragraph 5 of the not actually finalised European Selection Rules, i.e.

"The Returning Officer must brief the Regional Executive(s) on the selection process before the appointment of the shortlisting committee."

I have left a message with London's Regional Secretary, Peter Ramrayka, hoping to set something up, and I guess that I ought to collect some data on the Regional Party, in order to be able to make a proper judgement as to the representative nature (or otherwise) of any proposed shortlisting committee. I'm also going to have to read the regional constitution in order to ensure that the correct procedure is followed when proposing the shortlisting committee's membership.

What all of this means, of course, is that the London selection process is already behind schedule. It's retrievable, no doubt, but just squeezes the timetable a touch.

This could be fun, couldn't it...

European Selection: the first order of business for the Returning Officer

The disadvantage of my increasing distance from the Party’s central bureaucracy is that I don’t really know what they’re up to. This may be a good thing in some ways, but advances in administration do happen without me and unless you may an effort to stay ‘in the loop’, there is a danger that you act on the basis of obsolete guidance.

Accordingly, I’ve asked the Senior Returning Officer for the European selection (he co-ordinates stuff and deals with issues that transcend individual Regions, amongst other things) whether or not the Rules have changed from 2012. I’m led to believe that, as far as I’m concerned, not much has changed but we’ll see about that shortly.

In the meantime, and assuming that these bits haven’t changed, what am I expected to do as Returning Officer?

I will;

• Support the shortlisting committee through the selection process
• Protect the interests of members
• Ensure the fair and equal treatment of candidates
• Ensure that the selection rules are followed

I am also required to brief the relevant Regional Executive on the selection process before the appointment of the shortlisting committee (can I do that via Skype?).

So, it looks like my first task is to contact the Secretary of London Liberal Democrats and find out when they next meet. I wonder who that is these days?...

"Speed, bonnie bus, like a bird on the wing"...

It still wasn't very nice as I left Inverness (again). At least it wasn't raining as hard as it had been for the most epic part of my rail adventure, involving two trains, a ferry and two buses, one of which might not actually exist.

The railway line to Kyle of Lochalsh is another of those well-known railways to nowhere, passing through a whole lot of nothing on the way to a ferry port which lost its raison d'etre when the bridge to Skye was built. Admittedly, the 'whole lot of nothing' is insanely scenic, but you do wonder how such a line survives even now. I'm not convinced that the number of fare-paying passengers really justifies keeping it, but as the sort of person who can think of little finer than gazing out of the window of a moving train, accompanied perhaps by a nice cup of tea, I am grateful to the powers that be for funding it.

The train rolled into Kyle of Lochalsh at 11.30, leaving me less than five hours to get to Mallaig, the furthest extent of the West Highland Line. The obvious route was via the Armadale-Mallaig ferry, but how to reach Armadale?

There is a bus from Kyle of Lochalsh to Broadford, on Skye, which conveniently leaves the slipway, near the station, at 11.50 a.m., and so I headed there to catch it. I found it easily enough, a little thirty-seater operated by Stagecoach, and sure enough, it made its way over the bridge and onto Skye. Soon, I was in Broadford, which is the second largest community on Skye, after Portree. This is not saying an awful lot, but it has all of the key things that you might need, including a bus stop. It even has the Isle of Skye Candle Company, which offered an opportunity to do some minor gift shopping.

According to Traveline, there was a bus to Armadale Pier, run by Maclean's Coaches. There was, however, no mention of it on the bus stop, and the company website indicated that there was no summer timetable. I could, however, ring them for information, so I did, only to get a voicemail message which indicated that I could leave a message, which I did. It also indicated that the bus stop was half a mile away.

And so, I trudged through the rain, suitcase trailing behind me, until I found the designated spot. I was not optimistic but, at almost exactly the appointed time, a slightly stretched pale blue minibus hove into view, which I flagged down, somewhat to the surprise of the driver. It was the mysterious number 601 bus to Armadale Pier.

I stopped for fish and chips (don't tell anyone) at a rather cute little cafe next to the port office for Caledonian MacBrayne, who run most of the ferry services in the West of Scotland, and did a little more shopping, before buying my very reasonable ticket to Mallaig.

Mallaig was wet (just for consistency's sake) but, having stopped for tea as an alternative to being rained on, I was fortunate to board the train just before the heavens opened with particular ferocity - not a good omen for the train journey ahead. However, I wasn't to be disappointed, for the journey to Glasgow is a sensational one. My personal high spot was, just as we left Rannoch, a stag decided to display himself close to the track, immediately followed by a rainbow.

The last part of the journey is a bit of an anti-climax (if you choose to do the journey, do it in the other direction, is my advice), but I did get to my hotel in Glasgow early enough to have a truly marvelous steak and Gruyere baguette, possibly a marker for the culinary treat to follow the next evening. For I was heading south...

European Selections: could these be the most open ones for a generation?

Being a European Parliamentary candidate for the Liberals and then Liberal Democrats has seldom been easy. Before the advent of list elections, it was not until the 1994 elections that a Liberal Democrat was elected (there were two of them – Graham Watson and Robin Teverson). And so, when list elections were introduced for the 1999 European Parliamentary elections, European selections began to really matter, and not just in places of traditional liberal strength.

With as many as eleven candidates to be elected in some Regions, achieving 12% of the vote across a European Region would probably be enough to get you elected, should you be lucky enough to be on top of the list. Indeed, with the use of the D’Hondt system of proportional representation, in some Regions, electing two Liberal Democrats was a possibility (South East, for example). The selections really mattered, and were fiercely contested as a result.

There was a small catch though, one which only began to emerge in the course of the next selection, which took place in 2002. The incumbent MEP had a huge advantage, with a budget to issue annual mailings to members (some of which were conveniently timed to go out just before the campaign phase) and a profile that made it hard to envisage them being defeated in a selection contest.

As it turned out, it wasn’t hard to beat them – it was impossible. And with the curious fact that, as a pro-European political party, we tend to underperform in regional list elections (and one could go on for hours about why that is), it meant that other applicants were contending to be the ones that didn’t get elected (unless the incumbent subsequently fell under a bus post-election). Interest began to fade, to the extent that, in 2012, there wasn’t much interest in candidacy. Indeed, in the East of England, where I chaired the shortlisting committee, there were so few applicants that they were all waved through to the membership ballot.

This time, it will be different. There will be no incumbents, and few of the ex-MEPs are expected to run (there are exceptions, I’m led to believe, but I don’t have any firm knowledge and, as a Returning Officer, I don’t see why I should promote them anyway). So, there is every possibility that new names may emerge and end up as Liberal Democrat MEPs. That means, potentially, more competition, on the basis that “it might be you”.

There are other factors in play too. The Party is far more conscious of the need to have more diverse candidates than it was in 1997 – gender was considered, but not ethnicity, for example. The evidence of the Spring Conference in York is that the mood of the Party has become more determined on that front.

So, as a Returning Officer, I expect to have a rather tougher job than I might have had in, say, 2012. How much tougher is, I guess, up to the membership…

Want to be a Liberal Democrat candidate for the 2019 European election? Not on the approved candidates list yet? You need to move fast!

It is hard to believe that, if all goes well, the advert seeking applications for consideration as a Liberal Democrat candidate for 2019 will go live in less than eleven weeks. Yes, less than eleven weeks. How do I know this? Because I've got the schedule, and I'm one of the Returning Officers (London, for those who didn't read yesterday's post - and it disappoints me how many of you don't hang on my every word...).

Given that so many of our members only joined the Party in the month after the May 2015 disaster, they are only now becoming eligible to attend a candidate development day and gain approval (strictly, if I recall correctly, you need to have renewed your membership to be eligible to attend such a development day, although you can submit the paperwork before then). So, for all of those keen, probably young, people, time is of the essence.

However, regardless of your age, or length of membership, if you want to be a European candidate in 2019, you perhaps ought to start thinking about it now. Yes, I know that there are Police and Crime Commissioner elections, Assembly elections in London and Wales, and Parliamentary elections in Scotland, plus local elections in scattered locations across the English counties, and I would be the last to suggest that anyone should lose focus on those, or even the European referendum that follows but, if you do want to be a contender, a small investment of time spent coming up with a strategy that will guide your moves over the months to come might help you achieve a good result.

If you aren't on the approved list, the earlier you get your application form in, the better. Regional and State Candidates Chairs will need to organize development days, and the more notice they have of likely demand, the better, for you, and for them. Remember, a development day is not that easy to organize, or prepare for, and you may only get one shot at it to meet the deadline for this selection (you can, of course, have another go in time for the Westminster selections that will follow).

So, contact Candidates Office at Party HQ, ask them to send you the forms and make sure that you fill them in and return them promptly. My fellow Returning Officers and I look forward to welcoming you to the wonderful world of European candidate selections...

I, the Returning Officer for the aforesaid Regional List...

And so, it can, apparently, be told. A schedule for the selection of our European Parliament regional candidates lists for 2019 has been agreed, and Returning Officers are being appointed.

There will be those of you who might think that this is all a bit premature, especially given the small detail of the referendum on 23 June, and you may well be right. However, any advert isn't due to be published until after that, so in the event that there is a vote to leave the European Union, not so much effort is wasted. It is, I think, probably better to be prepared on the basis of optimism.

European selections have been a thread of activity during my time as a faceless Party bureaucrat. I ran my first one in 1989, and have been involved in every round subsequently. In 1997, I was Returning Officer for the South East region, when seventy-two applicants came forward for what turned out to be eleven places on a list and, eventually, two seats in the European Parliament. It would be fair to say that it wasn't an easy selection, but I was lucky enough to have a shortlisting committee who were a joy to work with.

I was back in 2002, which was rather easier, and then 2007, a selection made simpler in many ways by the fact that I met and proposed to Ros in the middle of it. It would be fair to say that both shortlisting committee and the candidates encountered a more generous than usual Returning Officer...

By 2012, I was in a new Region and a new role, as Chair of the East of England shortlisting committee. It was a very straightforward job - we never met, and agreed to wave all of the applicants through to the all-member ballot.

It won't be that easy this time. We will surely do better than we did in 2014 (it can't possibly be that bad, can it?), which means there is the potential for gains in regions such as London, the South West and the North West. Without incumbents, contests will be, potentially, far more open, making the job of Returning Officers rather more challenging.

And so I'm back, from Outer Space, in my newly appointed role as the Returning Officer for London. I'm looking forward to working with a new shortlisting committee, and to meeting a bunch of interesting candidates. I'm probably a gentler Returning Officer than I once was, and it could be fun. Time to start preparations, I suspect...

Heading south, with an interlude for social interaction...

It was still pretty miserable in Thurso, but I had seen as much as I was ever likely to, and so I was out on the lunchtime train. The Flow Country was still pretty majestic, even if it wasn't the sort of place you'd fancy being caught out in. And so, as I headed south, I passed the time glancing out of the window, as you do, drinking tea as supplied by the actually not bad trolley service.

I had just passed through Dingwall though, when I checked my Twitter feed to discover that one Caron Lindsay was leafleting in Munlochy. "Where on Earth is Munlochy?", I wondered, so I looked at the map function, only to discover that it really wasn't that far away.

And so, I called her, if only to see how she was getting on, and found myself invited to have dinner with the Lindsay family, at their rented holiday cottage on the Black Isle. Naturally, two arch political observers had much to talk about, as we put the world to rights or, at least, the Party, and it was nice to meet Bob, who I've heard a lot about but had never met.

I should also note that I got to meet Hazel, who has become quasi-legendary in dog owning Liberal Democrat circles. Offering her the gravy from my plate appeared to go down well, so I guess that I'd be a welcome visitor in future.

All in all, a very pleasant evening. But tomorrow would see the most complex part of my journey...

To Inverness... and beyond!

It was raining when I reached Inverness, a cold, heavy rain falling from a sullen sky. Not so much "Welcome to the Highlands!" as "The Highlands, you're welcome to them...", but I was heading further north, much further north.

I like trains, as regular readers will be aware. It's not about locomotives or rolling stock - that has little attraction unless it offers something I might personally enjoy - but about the journey. And the four hours and eighteen minutes that it takes to get to Wick, at the furthest extent of the Far North Line, takes you through some of the remotest country served by train.

And is it remote! The relatively gentle country of Ross-shire yields to increasingly rugged country, where sheep are fewer and the lambing is just starting, before you enter the Flow Country of Caithness and Sutherland, a truly bleak, if majestic, place of bog, covering 1,500 square miles.

Colin Rosenstiel tells me that, in years past, the train used to divide at Georgemas Junction, with one part reversing before veering off to Thurso, whilst the other half continued to Wick. Nowadays, with only two carriages, it serves Thurso first before reversing back through Georgemas Junction and on to Wick.

I had planned a brief explore of Wick and arrived to find that it was still raining. Not a promising start, but it wasn't destined to get any better. Caron Lindsay, who spent some of her younger years in the town, tells me that it has rather lost its way, a shadow of its former self, and that seems pretty accurate, although there are few places that benefit from rain and low cloud. I was somewhat relieved that I only had just over an hour...

It was raining in Thurso too but, having checked into my hotel, I needed a good walk, and so went to explore. Like Wick, it seemed that most people had deserted in search of somewhere more pleasant, but I doggedly walked around, looking to see what might reward further exploration in the morning.

After a decent night's sleep, I returned, guided by the hotel proprietor towards 'Caithness Horizons', a relatively new museum housed in the old Town Hall. It has an interesting exhibition on the nuclear facility at Dounreay, not too far down the road, but the highlight is a twenty minute video on Caithness highlighting the unusual countryside - well worth a visit if you unexpectedly find yourself that far north. Remember, it's seven hundred miles from London King's Cross to Thurso by train.

But I had miles to go before I slept, and I was bound for Inverness again on the lunchtime train...

A night on the Caledonian Sleeper...

Ros is away for a week on business and, rather than join her and (to be honest) get in the way, I thought that I'd go for a train ride. And so, on Sunday evening, I reported at Euston Station to catch the 20.57 departure to Inverness (as you do).

It has been a very long time since I rode a sleeper train, so I was intrigued to find out what the experience is like. So, here are some thoughts...

The first class lounge at Euston is alright, no more, no less, although I'm sure that the cookies are very nice. It's simply somewhere to sit whilst you wait for your train, with free soft drinks and a bar (which isn't free, or even particularly cheap). But, as your berth isn't available until about half an hour before departure, it's better than hanging around the concourse, especially whilst Euston is being redeveloped.

You head for the train as soon as the berths are available and, as you've booked in advance, you know where to head for. There will probably be someone to check you in, take down your choice of breakfast if you haven't pre-booked it and explain the various bits and pieces.

The sleeping berth itself is a bit austere (although they tell me that the new rolling stock, due to be introduced in two or three years will be rather less spartan). Your bed is already made up and if, like me, you've booked a first class ticket, you get a nice bag of Arran Aromatics goodies, including a pillow spray for those of you who like that sort of thing.

You may also have pre-booked dinner, which you can eat in your cabin or, if you're not anti-social, you can join your fellow passengers in the lounge car. The notion of sitting on sofas, drinking single malt whisky and making conversation is obviously quite attractive, so it's usually quite crowded at first but, again, your first class ticket is your friend, as you get priority if it's full.

Dinner is microwaved - none of this 'having a proper chef' like they do on Hungarian operated Eurocity trains - but they've chosen well, picking options that survive the process well, and using Scottish ingredients to make the meal an introduction to Scotland.

The prime attraction though is the whisky list, with an impressive range of blended whiskies (for the love of God, why?) but, more importantly, some outstanding single malts. I went for the Balblair 2003 Vintage from Edderton, described as "full bodied, with notes of oranges, lemon, honey and spice". Don't ask me to confirm that, but it slipped down the throat like a song.

Do make sure that your mobile phone and other electrical stuff is as fully charged as possible. The only available charging points are in the lounge car and, on this journey at least, they didn't work anyway. Bring one of those gadgets that will charge your phone if you have one.

Sleep is surprisingly easy. Admittedly, I can sleep just about anywhere, but the background noise isn't too bad at all, and with no announcements to disturb you, and the train pretty steady, most people should be fine. The train was decoupled at Edinburgh Waverley at about 5 a.m. (it's broken up into three parts - Aberdeen, Fort William and Inverness - and extra carriages attached) and I never noticed.

I woke up at about 6.30 a.m. - we'd just left Blair Atholl - to a rather more bleak landscape than the mid-Suffolk one that I'm used to. It was also raining out of a sullen grey sky.

Breakfast is, in truth, a bit of a disappointment. Microwaved pork and egg isn't going to float the boat of this carnivore but, perhaps one day, they might solve that problem.

But, at just after 8.30 a.m., the Caledonian Sleeper pulled into Inverness. It was still raining and I went off on search of the final first class perk, the Caledonian Sleeper lounge with its free coffee and, most important, showers. What isn't made clear is that the lounge is outside the station, which means crossing the street. It isn't signposted in the station at all, and the sleeper host didn't seem to know where it was either.

It's very nice, with good hot showers and very drinkable coffee. And, as it doesn't close until 10.30 a.m., it makes a good resting point for your onward connection. I had one of those, at 10.38 a.m., so it worked out rather well. I was able to recharge my iPhone and iPad too.

So, all in all, a pretty good experience. £180 for a first class ticket sounds like an awful lot, but given that you get a 500 mile rail journey and a bed for the night, I actually think that it represents pretty good value. And yes, I'd probably do it again if the opportunity arose.

"Building a Better Walrus" - this is not, I repeat, not an April Fool...

Another month has passed, and a surprising number of leaflets have been delivered. After all, if I'm going to be walking around, I might as well do something useful. And thus, my ten thousand steps have achieved each day - forty-three consecutive days since my mid-February food poisoning glitch - and my nearly two litres drunk.

My work colleagues are beginning to notice now, and some of the more exotic elements of my wardrobe are coming back into play, all of which is nice.

Ros has, as is her way, been incredibly supportive, calorie counting our meals, accompanying me on my late night village walks, and generally being supportive.

So, what has happened in March? Well, despite a weekend at Spring Conference, where I ate delicious but hardly calorie conscious pork-laden breakfasts, I've lost another 2.4 kilos, making 9.4 kilos in total. For those of you who, like me, still think in imperial measures, that's just shy of a stone and a half, or twenty-one pounds, putting me very nearly three-quarters of the way towards my target for the family wedding in early October.

Interestingly, young Dr Pack approached me in York, suggesting that it was somewhat brave of me to blog my progress as I have. I have to admit that, up until then, I hadn't given it any conscious thought. This, perhaps, says much for our relative personalities, and campaigns experience - the difference between a campaigns professional and a professional bureaucrat?

However, I'm kind of committed now so, until next month, this is twelve-thirteenths of the initial walrus, signing off...

A la recherche du Stowupland perdu*

It is hard to believe that it is now nearly five years since my gallant, but ill-fated, attempt to become the District Councillor for Stowupland ward, but I found myself on familiar territory this weekend, delivering leaflets for the Remain campaign. After all, a majority of those who actually turned out that day voted for parties that support our membership of the European Union, and if Ros and I don't get a pro-European message out, who will?

Funnily enough, five years ago, there was controversy over plans to build some new housing association properties, and now, the hedges and windows are full of signs condemning a proposal to build one hundred and seventy-five houses on a greenfield site on the edge of the village. There is little doubt that it is highly speculative, but it does offer up a slightly uncomfortable dilemma for local residents.

You see, Stowupland is quite a nice place, and people want to live there. More homes and thus, more people, means, potentially, better services or, in the current climate, more chance of keeping the ones they have. It also means that their children and grandchildren have some prospect of living locally when it becomes their turn to set up home.

And yet, with Stowmarket growing apace, there is a risk of one being absorbed into the other. One wonders how a local councillor might reconcile the opposing tensions, but luckily, I guess, that isn't my problem.

At least my memories of the 2011 campaign make deliveries rather easier - I remember where some of the trickier letterboxes are - and we've made pretty good progress thus far. If only the weather wasn't so unreliable...

* (for those of you whose French is rather better than mine, an apology...)

Spring Conference - a report back from the Mid Suffolk delegation...

I've just got back after a very pleasant trip to York. Apparently, there was a conference on, although I couldn't say that I was an active participant - I did attend the Conference Quiz and a fringe meeting on the referendum campaign. I wasn't in the hall for the cannabis motion, or the economy motion or even the diversity one. On the other hand, I may have been the only person from Mid Suffolk who got to York at all.

So, what do I put in my report to my Local Party Executive Committee?

Well, we now have a policy to improve the diversity of our Parliamentary Party in the Commons. Of course, we do have a Member of Parliament in Mid Suffolk already, and best of all, she's a woman. Admittedly, Ros is in the Lords, where the relative diversity of the Parliamentary Party seems not to be of interest currently. And, the policy doesn't obvious have any immediate salience to us, as we don't meet the criteria for All Women Shortlists. In general, we try to encourage anyone to do pretty much anything they want to, including candidacy.

There's a new policy on cannabis. I'm not convinced that it's the revenue raiser it is purported to be - look at the proportion of hand rolling tobacco that is smuggled into the country for an idea of how much duty evasion is likely to take place - but I'd rather the police focus their efforts on those drugs that lead to crime, ill health and addiction. Is it a burning issue in Mid Suffolk? I don't think so.

We also passed an economic policy motion, which basically endorses previous policy - reassuring, if not exactly radical. On the other hand, the Conservatives don't appear to have much in the way of coherent policy, so we're ahead of the game there.

The Party is now against fracking in England. In fairness, Suffolk is not an area where fracking is likely to take place, so it isn't likely to be an issue for us. 

We're not in favour of enhanced surveillance powers for the State either - we are sceptical as to whether or not the security services can be trusted not to misuse such powers. Admittedly, given the woeful broadband provision in large parts of Mid Suffolk, they might be better off opening our post instead...

And finally, in policy terms, there's policy on the private rental sector, seeking to protect tenants. Am I sure that it's entirely practical? Or would simply addressing the supply side of the supply/demand equation effectively solve most of the problems the motion seeks to mitigate?

Elsewhere, the fringe was nice. Our Honorary President made a splendid Conference quizmaster, and our Treasurer wasn't a bad assistant either (let's not kid ourselves about the notion of prefixing that word with 'glamorous'), and she also chaired an interesting event about referendum strategy.

I even have an IN campaign t-shirt, which might make a good raffle prize...

Time to reach for my trusty Party Constitution...

I received an unexpected e-mail the other day, from our Regional Chair, Stephen Robinson. "The Region has to nominate someone to be on English Appeals Panel. You would seem like an obvious candidate and so I wondered if you would be willing to be nominated?".

I thought for about a millisecond and replied, "I would be honoured - count me in!".

And so, it seems, I am to be a member of the 'secret society' that is the Appeals Panel for England. Except, of course, that it is no such thing, it's just that it is legitimately low-key - how visible do you want your 'judiciary' to be, after all? I would argue that what the Party needs is accountability, proper justification and an adherence to both the word and the spirit of the Constitution. And that's what I'll aim to deliver, as and when I am called upon.

So, how does one qualify to be a member of the Appeals Panel for England? Well, you can't be a Parliamentary candidate, or a member of the English Council Executive. You can't be an MP or and MEP, you can't be a Party employee, and you can't be a member of the English Candidates Committee. Luckily, I am none of these things and, for the most part, wouldn't want to be even if given a free ride to become one.

English Council elect three members of the Federal Appeals Panel, all of whom are members of the Appeals Panel for England as of right - they also usually chair any constituted panel convened to hear a specific appeal - and they are joined by a nominee from each of the Regional Parties, which is where I come in. The appointment is for five years, with the option to renew once, unless infirmity, death or inability to perform the duties of the role intervenes.

And so, it seems to me that reading the Party's Constitution might just be a good idea, as well as finding time to take the designated unconscious bias course that the Party offers. Interestingly, my gallant employer insists that I take one too - I passed, you'll be pleased to know - so it will be interesting to 'compare and contrast'. I'm also wondering if there is scope to analyse some of the Appeals Panel's recent rulings to gain a sense of the type of issues it more often deals with, and explore those in context.

So, much to dwell on. But first, back to Conference...

"Building a Better Walrus" - refurbishment work continues

Two months gone, and despite a food poisoning related glitch which lost me three days, I'm still going strong with the ten thousand steps and nearly two litres of water. Indeed, the steps are averaging over twelve thousand per day. Naturally, losing the will to eat for a week has helped...

And, actually, I'm beginning to enjoy the new regime. I even sneak out into the darkness for an extra two thousand steps or so just because. The diet isn't too stressful, as the extra weight I carry about means that I'm burning more calories - this perhaps explains why my weight had stabilised in the first place. All that I've done is cut out the snacks and made a few substitutions - ham for cheese, for example - or introduced some minor portion reductions. Ros is also being very helpful, encouraging my walks and cooking delicious healthy meals over the weekend.

But, I hear you ask, how have I got on? Is there less walrus in mid-Suffolk? Well, the answer is that I've lost another four kilos, making seven in total, the equivalent of more than a stone in old money. That puts me more than halfway towards my target of losing two stones by early October (and no, I don't intend to change my target yet).

So, a slightly more limber bureaucrat will be seen in York in just over a week. Don't worry, I'll be easily recognisable - I'll be the slightly bemused one nursing a glass of sparkling mineral water...