West Kent Towers says Thank You

People often ask how we keep the West Kent show "on the road" and why our fabulous team of volunteers keep coming back to help, week-in, week out. The answer is simple. Regardless of the banter and the leg-pulling, we go that extra mile to say "thank you" and to let them know that their hard work and support is appreciated. 

Tonight, Jon and I are hosting the first of three receptions to thank the 100+ people who make it all possible. This evening it is "Seafood and Champagne" for our fundraisers and donors, without whose efforts we would not have the money to pay for the printing, the postage, then rent and yes the wages! 

Tomorrow we are hosting a lunch at a local family-run restaurant for our full time volunteers, the team of 20+ who come in at least once a week to pack envelopes and enter data.

Then on Thursday, it's the turn of the staff and interns to enjoy a Christmas lunch at the fabulous Rules at Covent Garden. 

All of the above is paid for by sponsors, who like what we are doing at West Kent Towers and want it to succeed. 

It's not about "me me me" it's all about "us"

This year I turned 50, and I can now officially join the ranks of “Grumpy Old Men”. Many who know me will say I have been a Grumpy Old Man for decades. I would argue if it wasn’t true.

Ask any Grumpy Old Man what irritates them most and top of the list will be Christmas gift shopping.  In recent weeks I have been dragged petulantly around Bluewater, Whitstable and Canterbury, spending hard-earned cash on gifts which the recipients probably don’t want or need and which could have been bought on-line from the comfort of my armchair and delivered to my door free of charge. But no. My other half ‘enjoys’ Christmas shopping, so round and round we go “feeling the quality” of dressing gowns and “seeing what’s available”.  Personally, I would buy everyone a Simpsons-in-the-Strand gift voucher with the offer of a cash value “buy-back” if they didn’t want to go.  That way, they would end up with cash to buy what they really wanted and I would get a good rare roast beef lunch. Everyone’s a winner.

What irritates me most about Christmas shopping is not the traipsing around soulless malls with endless jingly music and surly disinterested assistants dressed-up as elves. The real problem is being forced into close proximity and prolonged exposure to the selfish “me me me” society.  By this I don’t mean crowds of loud people with sharp elbows. I am referring to thoughtless and self-absorbed behaviour which would not have been seen or tolerated a generation ago, but is now increasingly the norm and appears to be accepted as an unfortunate by-product of modern life.  Four examples

·       People at the till gabbling endless tripe on their phone, whilst the poor harassed cashier waits for payment and the queue grows ever longer.

·       Those who step off the escalator laden with bulky bags, and think that is a good place to stop to discuss where to go next, oblivious to the fact they are blocking the way of everyone else. These are the same people who stand in doorways to send a text message, update Facebook or apply more make-up with complete disregard to the inconvenience they are causing others.

·       Passengers who place bulky suitcases on train seats and seem to have no shame or moral compass when they can see there are people all around them, often elderly or disabled, having to stand whilst their luggage takes up an (unpaid-for) seat.

·       Drivers who double park on busy roads as they are just “popping in” and think putting on their hazard lights excuses the danger and congestion they are causing to other road users.

These examples, and I could have given many more, are not a result of a failing education system, or income inequality. We cannot even blame Brexit! They are a result of a “me me me” culture, where no-one else matters “provided I get what I want, when I want it”.

Sadly, I can see the same selfish behaviour is starting to invade politics, too.

Many years ago what we now call “Campaign Support” was called “Mutual Aid”, the idea being people would help and support each other. By redefining Mutual Aid into Campaign Support we appear to have created a “welfare state” where people think they are “entitled” to receive help with no offer of anything in return.

Very recently a local County Council candidate sent a prickly email to neighbouring Association Chairmen complaining that he wasn’t getting as much support as he thought he was “entitled to”.
I replied by listing the nine local government by-elections we have fought in his area over the last few years and suggested that the best way to attract help would be to contact all those candidates he had supported when they needed help and ask them to reciprocate. I suspect he will be waiting a long time. “Me, me, me”.

Likewise the branch Chairman who emailed to complain that so few from outside her village were supporting her event. “Why don’t you contact all those branches whose events you have been to this year and ask if they could buy tickets for yours?”  No answer came!

Last week in West Kent we pulled off a magnificent victory. In a council by-election in a ward which had been solidly Labour from 1950 – 2007, and which still contains over 60% social housing, we polled 61% of the vote compared with 21% for Labour and 18% for UKIP. What was most delicious is the fact that Lib Dems and Greens had withdrawn from the election and backed the Labour candidate in what they called “an anti-Tory progressive alliance”, only to see their combined vote share fall from 35% to 21%. We increased our vote by 17.4%.  We achieved this through team work. Volunteers came not just from Tonbridge, but from Tunbridge Wells, Chatham & Aylesford, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Croydon and many other places where we have previously helped. This great effort enabled us to knock on every door three times, record voting intentions for 70% of the population and deliver seven leaflets. As I have said so often, “winning elections isn’t difficult, it’s just hard work. More leaflets = more votes.

After Christmas, our attention in most of the country will turn to May’s county council elections. These provide a great opportunity, as four years ago (when these elections were last fought) UKIP were on a high and we lost many Divisions that we should normally win. If ever there was a time to demonstrate “it’s not about me, it’s about us” then this is it.

It is a vanity for candidates in safe seats to add 500 to their majority at the expense of the marginal candidate fighting for his political life next door.

It is an ego trip for candidates in unwinnable seats to demand resources to reduce their opponents majority by 200, when those resources should be employed winning back a seat from UKIP.

And it is simply not acceptable for borough/district councillors to sit on their hands as “these elections are nothing to do with me” because every election is a launch pad for the next, and every victory is a building block for future success.

As the May elections approach our candidates need to decide if they are the double-parked driver unconcerned about the progress of others provided they get what they want, or are they the decent bloke who holds open the door for the heavily burdened person behind, easing their progress at little personal loss.

Until then, Happy Christmas from West Kent Campaign HQ and thank you for your feedback, comments and suggestions over the past twelve months.

West Kent Members' Christmas Newsletter

In addition to our five Associations keeping their members informed about what is happening locally, twice a year the West Kent Campaign HQ distributes a newsletter promoting the work we do at Paddock Wood. Here is the Christmas 2016 edition, sent out today. Click image to enlarge. 

Never forget to say THANK YOU

However tired, however busy, however great the margin - never forget to thank the people on whose support we rely to win.  

If we have the time, money and energy to deliver six leaflets asking them to vote for us, we can find the time, money and energy to thank them for doing so.

The Tory's "sleeker campaign machine" !

Front page of this weeks Times of Tonbridge. 

My favourite bit....

West Kent's Unsung Heroes #1.

THELMA HUGGETT

A "BIG UP" to the Tunbridge Wells Conservative's Deputy Chairman Fundraising Thelma Huggett for organising the Christmas Fete yesterday and raising almost £1,000 for Association funds. Over the last twelve months Thelma has (single headedly) raised over £5,000 for TWCA, not including money raised by the branches.

Thelma balances her work as Deputy Chairman with that of a hardworking councillor for a marginal council ward alongside work for "Friends" of the local hospital and countless other charitable and voluntary roles. A real example of "if you want something doing, as a busy person".

Thank you Earthy Thelma - you are a real star xx

West Kent's Unsung Heroes #2.

JOYCE GADD

Joyce Gadd is the Chatham and Aylesford President (and has previously held every position under the sun). And although she won't thank me for saying it, she was worked for the Conservative Party for over 50 years in Berkshire and Kent.

Joyce is one of those people who is "always there", she opens her home for teams of 20-30 envelope packers whenever asked (yes, we pack envelopes in West Kent, we do not stuff them) and to encourage them to return she feeds them home made sausage rolls, quiche, cakes and wine (all from her own pocket, never claiming a penny back from party funds).

She organises events, BBQs, lunches and coffee mornings and cheese and wine evenings at her home, last year raising over £2,000, not including the money she raises by helping to organise Association events such as the annual dinner. Like me, Joyce is intolerant of fools and those who don't pull their weight - and she isn't afraid to name and shame!

Every successful Association has a "Joyce" - we should cherish them as we would be much worse off without them. Thanks Joyce (and Charles) for all that you do to make Chatham and Aylesford as successful as it is today.

Happy Treasurers and Luck Winners

We were delighted to welcome Tonbridge & Malling MP, Tom Tugendhat MBE, to West Kent Towers today to pick the winning numbers for the 2016 West Kent Christmas Draw. In total, we raised over £12,000 for our local Associations this year, including Gravesham and Canterbury who joined-in our local Christmas Draw for the first time.

Congratulations to our winners and thank you to everyone who participated and made the draw such a great success. 

Winning elections isn't difficult, it's just hard work, MORE LEAFLETS = MORE VOTES.

I am just back from the count and I am delighted to report that we comfortably won the Tonbridge Trench ward local by-election. The full result was

Georgina Thomas (Con):- 603 (61.2%)
Lab/Progressive Alliance:- 204 (20.7%)
UKIP:- 178 (18.1%)

Depending how you analyse the result, this represents either a 8% increase in the Conservative vote (my figures) or a 17.4% increase in the Conservative vote (@BritainElects figures) compared with 2015.  And given the 2015 result was our best ever performance, to increase our vote share by a further 8% or 17.4% is somewhat satisfactory!

To the outside observer, our 61% share would indicate a comfortable middle class ward in the midst of True Blue West Kent. Far from it. Trench was safely Labour for over 50 years (from 1950 - 2007). Even now, even after helpful boundary changes brought 200 or so owner occupied houses into the ward, over 60% of voters live in social housing.

Just think about this for a moment.... What was once a Labour working class heartland now has a higher Conservative vote share than Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks and Tonbridge & Malling parliamentary constituencies, which are three of the UKs safest Conservative seats. After 6 years of Conservative-led government, for Labour to poll just 20% in this ward is prime example of how far they have to climb to re-establish themselves as serious contenders for office. Even worse for Labour, in this by-election they launched a "progressive alliance" with the Greens and LibDems, both of whom stood aside and backed Labour.  This unholy alliance where political parties attempted to trade their voters resulted in many absurdities which provided us with no end of amusement:

First the Greens took great exception to our candidate claiming they "couldn't be bothered" to field a candidate. This resulted in them delivering not one but two leaflets (the trees, the trees) clarifying their position. This was twice as many leaflets as they deliver when they are fielding a candidate. This added little to the debate other than confirming the view of most people that the Greens are "not quite like the rest of us".

Then they took to Facebook to bemoan the nasty attack, which resulted in the majority of their own followers agreeing with me that they had let down their supporters. On and on they droned about the injustice of it all. And just as the debate was dying down I intervened with this helpful comment.....

Which kicked them off again into another round of foaming at the mouth invective, which was just what I intended!

The consequence of this "progressive alliance" is, compared with 2015, the three parties of the Left saw their vote fall from 35% to 21% proving that you cannot act like feudal barons and trade your supporters as if you owned them.

So, how did we win...?

1. Pick a strong local candidate

2. Fight a positive campaign on the issues that matter to local people (which are not the issues politicians think matter to local people)

3. Work hard

The brutal truth, we worked harder, delivered more leaflets, knocked on more doors, recruited more postal voters, turned out more pledges and came across as more determined and hungry to win than the others. Today we started at 7am and took our last supporter to the poll at 9.55pm. I have said it before and I will say it again.

Winning elections isn't difficult, it's just hard work,
MORE LEAFLETS = MORE VOTES.

Christmas Cheer comes to West Kent Towers

Despite the appearance of Scrooge hovering over the franking machine, the appearance of the Tesco Value Christmas Tree and a packet of chocolate biscuits indicates that the Season of Goodwill has finally arrived at West Kent Towers.  

What's the Spanish for "More Leaflets = More Votes"?

Members of Parliament, Parliamentary Candidates and Party Managers from the Ecuadorian Partido Social Cristiano on a visit to West Kent Towers last week

Until recent weeks I have paid little attention to the “outreach” department at CCHQ. I knew it existed and that they did good work with our faith and BME communities, but who they were, how they operated and what they did remained a mystery.  That was until four weeks ago, when my good friend, Dr John Hayward (a former activist from Tonbridge who now works with the Outreach Department at CCHQ) contacted me to ask if West Kent would ‘host’ a delegation of visitors from the Partido Social Cristiano, our sister party in Ecuador. 

I readily agreed as John Hayward is a longstanding friend and I like to be helpful. I am also quite proud of what we have created in West Kent and jump at any opportunity to show off!

“That sounds exciting”, I said to our Office Manager, Jon Botten, who had overheard the conversation and was eyeing me suspiciously over his spreadsheets. Jon does not share any of my ringmaster’s attraction to the spotlight, and tends to view anything new or different as a gross interference into the daily ritual of data management and cheque banking.  “How many of them will there be? I am worried that we won’t have enough coffee cups.” I admitted that I did not know.  “Do they speak English, as the only Spanish you know is ‘dos cervezas, por favor’?”  I admitted that I did not know. “Where will they all sit, we only have ten chairs? Oh! There won’t be that many of them, I said. I imagine just a car full. This was my attempt to shut down the barrage of goading questions as I knew he was right and that I should have checked all these things before agreeing.

A silence ensued: that awkward silence I imagine descends when a husband is sent out shopping and returns with only half the things on the list, a silence suddenly broken by the “chimes” signalling the arrival of an email.

“Dear Andrew, ECUADORIAN VISIT. Thank you so much for agreeing to host our visitors. Just to let you know, there will be 18 in the party so you will also need to arrange somewhere suitable to park the coach. As most of them do not speak English, we will also have two translators plus a number of support staff. Probably 24 in total. I am sure they would all appreciate coffee upon arrival. I really grateful for you agreeing to help and we look forward to receiving your draft programme of activities.”

In one brutal paragraph, all of Jon’s fears were proved true just as my own laissez faire insouciance was exposed. Undaunted by my poor Spanish, the lack of coffee cups, chairs and space, and nowhere suitable to park a coach, we drew up what I hoped would be an interesting and stimulating programme of activities, bearing in mind this was their third and final day in the UK having already spent a day touring parliament and a day touring CCHQ and meeting Heads of Department. I was concerned that their final day in the UK would be defined by a visit to two soulless rooms above a dry cleaners in West Kent and a 50-year-old, tall, fat Scouser banging on about “more leaflets = more votes”. It seemed an inglorious end to a visit to promote democracy.

Our programme of events included:

·       A presentation by me on the work of the Conservative Associations at “grassroots” level, including building and retaining an activist base, fund raising and street campaigning

·       Buffet lunch at a typical British country pub with three guest speakers; an MP, a Council Leader and an Association Chairman, each of whom were to make brief presentations on how they fit in to the ‘Conservative family’

·       Two hours on the doorsteps “survey canvassing” with local activists who could speak sufficient Spanish to explain what was happening.

·       Finally, an evening event with Lord Baker of Dorking, who spoke about his work in Parliament and what he has achieved with the Baker Dearing Trust since his retirement in 1997, promoting vocational-based technical colleges

I am confident that the day went well and our visitors found it useful, but I believe the highlight for them was the session on building and developing a local activist base. This was scheduled to last 45 minutes but due to the number of detailed questions, it actually lasted for almost two hours, and probably would have gone on longer had we not had to leave for lunch.

What I learned was that in Ecuador (and in most of Latin America) the concept of voluntary activists simply does not exist. Elections are fought at big rallies and by neighbours arguing with each other in town squares and street corners. The concept of a small army of volunteers giving up night after night to deliver leaflets, canvass voters and pack envelopes simply does not exist. The visitors wanted to know, “Why do they do it?” “What do they get in return?” “Are they offered jobs or contracts if your party wins?”  “Why don’t they want payment?” “How do you find these volunteers?”  “How do you train them?” And so on.  The look on their faces when I said our activists not only worked free of charge but actually paid an annual subscription for the privilege of doing so, was met with total amazement. 

I thought it was ironic that the voluntary party, which is too often taken for granted, sometimes even patronised and ignored, is the part of our organisation which our visitors from Ecuador would have given the “eye teeth” to have working on their behalf! A lesson for us all in how we might not realise the value of what we have until it’s gone, and by then it will be too late.

The visit was financed by the non-partisan Westminster Foundation for Democracy, whose vision “is of the universal establishment of legitimate and effective multi-party representative democracy.” The training and development is delivered via established UK political parties, who each receive funding to host likeminded democratic parties and train them to develop the campaigning, policy development and communications skills we take for granted in the UK. In terms of promoting democracy, strengthening British interests, and building worldwide alliances, I believe it is a worthwhile endeavour. See www.wfd.org for more information about their work.

Our visitors were charming, appreciative, eager to learn and determined to win. They left West Kent with arms full of surveys, leaflets, training documents and recruitment pamphlets. The electoral maths are stacked against them and their chief opponent, the incumbent Socialist president Rafael Correa (a close friend of the late Hugo Chavez) is well established, with deep roots in the machinery of the state. I would like to think that in the battle which lies ahead, a fresh-faced and newly-recruited volunteer will be standing on a doorstep of Quito – handing over a show card and asking, in a refined Liverpool accent, “on a scale of one to ten, how likely are you to vote for Partido Social Cristiano on 19 February 2017?” 

If so, the little known and seldom acknowledged Conservative Outreach Department (along with West Kent Towers) will have, in some very small way, contributed that that success.

A few thoughts on Richmond Park

Richmond Park: We should remember that the Lib Dems turned this into a referendum on Brexit and they polled under 50% of the vote on a 56% turnout in one of the UKs strongest Remain constituencies. This is a good result for them, but it is far from a mandate to change the terms of Brexit.

They say "failure is an orphan but success has many fathers". This  is no exception.

1. Zac's badly fought Mayoral campaign and the bitter taste that must have left in with many socially moderate voters.

2. Irritation at a costly and unnecessary election, remember the last "vanity by election" in Haltemprice resulted in a massively reduced turnout, too.

3. The consequence of a candidate who thinks he is bigger and more popular than the party brand he was elected to represent. The same thing has happened locally in West Kent; deselected councillors have stood as independents and ended-up finishing third or fourth.

4. A piss-poor ground operation which delivered only half the number of leaflets delivered by the LibDems and secured voting intentions from 10,000 voters compared with 50,000 by the Lib Dems.

I have said it before and I will say it again and again and again. "Winning elections isn't difficult, it's just hard work. More leaflets = more votes."