Tea with Tom 'v' Beer with Botten

West Kent Towers shut up shop an hour early today to hit the streets of West Malling, to deliver invitations to our first "Tea With Tom" event. The idea is not new or revolutionary, but from a campaigning, PR and practical perspective, it ticks many boxes.

"We didn't burn him"
- The West Kent Towers League of Gentlemen out on the road

To promote the event we have delivered 500 invitations (that's almost the entire village), put up posters in local shops, and to ensure no-one is upset or feels "snubbed" a separate written invitation has been posted to all local members, donors and activists.

The event is being held between 10am - 11am in a private room of a local gastropub, or in the gardens if the weather is clement. I don't anticipate a major turnout (perhaps 20 residents) but that's not the point. Everyone has been invited, and even those who cannot come will have received a point of contact with a reply card on the reverse, encouraging them to get in touch or offer assistance. There is a practical element too; given Tom's campaign day starts at 7am, by 10am he will need a break by mid morning, so this kills two birds with one stone.

Sadly Jon and I have a by-election to fight so we won't be hob-nobbing with the digestives, instead we marked the event early with our own post leaflet delivery event ... Beer with Botten: