Tom Tugendhat launches West Kent Phone Bank

We were pleased to welcome Tonbridge, Edenbridge & Malling's new Parliamentary candidate, Tom Tugendhat, to the West Kent Campaign HQ today to officially launch the Phone Bank. 

Tom Tugendhat (seated centre) with (from left) Brenni Wilson, Elizabeth Thomas, Allan Sullivan, John Wilson, Jon Botten and Bill Hills). 

We had all ten lines in use and made over 200 voter contacts in just over an hour! 

Candidates have each reserved two or three evenings on the Phone Bank between now and the 22 May elections. A tremendous campaign asset for our local candidates!

My busman's holiday in a draughty Rochester attic

Sunday was a Busman's Holiday. I spent a day as a volunteer - for my local Conservative Association!

In fairness, my day job extends into most evenings and weekends, and as a consequence I have little time to help the Rochester and Strood Constituency Conservative Association, where I live and where I pay my membership subscription.   I was therefore pleased to accept an invitation from their Executive Council to be one of a five-strong panel charged with interviewing and approving incumbent councillors seeking re-election for May 2015. 

As I have previously blogged, I am a strong supporter of the Mandatory Selection Guidelines, which give real power to Associations to control their Approved List and ensures local branches, where properly constituted, have the right to select their candidates. Associations and branches must have a sanction against non-performing councillors, and ensuring all incumbents are interviewed and assessed against agreed Key Performance Indicators is a marked improvement on the old system of nods and winks.  

Rochester and Strood is one of the South East's most politically astute Associations, and the performance standards agreed by the Executive Council were appropriately rigorous. Each incumbent was interviewed and assessed against five performance indicators:

(a) Motivation and experience
(b) Council record and achievements
(c) Campaigning and communication skills
(d) Community involvement
(e) Branch development and supporting the Association's wider goals

To be re-approved, each incumbent had to attain a certain score and pass each of the five KPIs. It was a tough process, and I am sure I was not alone in feeling a degree of sadness when I found myself giving a low mark which I suspected might contribute to an incumbents removal from the Approved List, but we all had a duty to be honest. 

Many might say that such a demanding process might be unduly harsh and would deter people from being councillors, but it appears the reverse is true. The day previously (Saturday) a different selection panel had interviewed new applicants, and amazingly fourteen new prospective candidates were added to the Approved List.  As a consequence, there are probably three applicants chasing each vacancy. How many Associations (outside London) could claim such political activism? How many associations would love the opportunity for open and fair competition? It is to Rochester and Strood's credit that they have such a politically active and motivated Association. 

It was a long day - we started at 9.30am and finished at 5pm; but it was worth it. I was asked by the Association Chairman to say a few words at the start of the meeting, and this is what I said,

"Local participatory democracy is a tripartite process. It is right that the Conservative Association controls the quality of people who are on the Approved List. It is right that local branches, where qualified to do so, choose the best people from that list to be their local candidates. And it is right that ultimately the voters elect the person they want to represent them in the Council Chamber. The right to select candidates goes to the heart of why people join political parties; and today's meeting is one of the most important any of us could attend at Association level. By ensuring we have the best possible pool of talent available we ultimately ensure the best possible Conservative councillors are elected."

Many Associations could learn a thing or two from Rochester and Strood's example. 

The weird and wonderful life of a political agent #125

My week on a page:

Sunday: up at 7am for a full day interviewing and assessing candidates.
Monday: breakfast with a leading member of Kent's Greek Cypriot community followed by the launch of the West Kent Phone Bank.
Tuesday: Lunch with a Silicon Valley millionaire in Soho
Wednesday: West Kent Open Day - how many of the 200 invited will come, and will they all come at once? Also, packing 4,000 Voter ID surveys and handing in two sets of LG nomination papers.
Thursday: meetings with Council leaders re manifesto. Meeting in Westminster re implementation of Individual Voter Registration.
Friday: day off!

Our three final intern applicants made me proud to be a Conservative

Much of today was spent with Tom Tugendhat preparing our questions then interviewing three truly outstanding intern applicants.

The full time paid internship is to work as part of the West Kent Campaign Team, but seconded to Tom Tugendhat's parliamentary campaign. Tom has raised the money to cover the salary, but any spare time will be used to assist with the general running of the West Kent HQ. Jon and I  are looking forward to a new member of the team, bringing new ideas and fresh thinking.

All three final applicants would have been outstanding, and each would have brought different qualities to the job. In fact, we had a to have quite a long discussion over the balance of the strengths we were looking for, to enable us to reach a decision. It was a hard choice.

One of the areas we decided to test was each applicant's ability to cope with hostile questions, and in particular how they would cope defending a party line if it conflicted with their own views; something they will need to deal with on the campaign trail.  We chose equal marriage as the potential point of conflict. Tom asked, "I am a Roman Catholic and many people of faith strongly object to the redefinition of marriage they believe it is wrong and find it offensive. Don't you agree? "

It was tough question. At the Open Primary  all four finalists confirmed their support for equal marriage, but the applicants weren't to know that.  Would they say what they they thought their potential employer wanted to hear? Would they defend the government's policy?  Or would they try to find words to avoid answering the question?

I need not have worried. All three stated unambiguously that they supported equality and social justice, two even telling Tom that they thought he was wrong. All three were fearless, principled and clearly determined to stand up for what the believed to be right, even when the thought the guy offering them a job may hold a different view. They should all be proud of their courage and principles, I am not sure if a 23 year old Andrew Kennedy would have demonstrated such tenacity and clarity of thought.

So the process is over, and Tom will be contacting all three applicants tomorrow to thank them for their efforts and congratulate the successful applicant. All of them indicated that they read this blog, so I wanted to add my personal thanks for the interest shown; not just the three we invited for interview, but to all applicants who responded to our advert. We really were spoilt for choice. But to the three who attended our interview today; you were all outstanding and I would have been personally delighted to work with any of you. Thank you!

Ringing the changes!

If any readers from outside West Kent would like to come and help, they would be most welcome!

I have deleted the dates and wards for obvious reasons, but do get in touch to offer assistance. FREE PIZZA!

Nice work if you can get it

A few weeks ago I blogged about the proliferation of outsourcing companies offering campaign services to Associations and MPs.  See HERE. As I wrote at the time, I don't blame these companies, they have seen a gap in the market and are exploiting it, which is what free enterprise is designed for.  Many of these companies are run by former CCHQ employees who know what they are doing. If Associations have lost the local skills to deliver campaign goals, it is hardly surprising they will turn elsewhere, even if they have to pay a premium. 

This morning I received an email from one such company - run by former CCHQ staffers. It was offering a package of telephone canvassing or telephone surveying. Here is a screen grab:

I know the guys who run this company, and I actually like them. But 200 contacts for £575. Really!  That's £2.87 each! An average ward has a legal spending limit of £750, so if any councillors are considering doing this as part of their election campaign, they will be spending 76% of their legal budget to phone 200 people (who you could visit personally over three evenings canvassing for 25p of shoe leather). 

If people are willing to pay for these services, good luck to them. However, if does demonstrate how fortunate we are in West Kent in that we have our own in-house phone bank, capable of making 500-800 calls in an evening, at a cost of £10 (yes, that's ten pounds not £575).  

Touching-up Bill Hills

Just back from our excellent printers (DA Printers in Rochester) where I signed off the Sorry You Were Out cards.  Here is Caroline (DA's graphic designer) touching up Bill Hills!

Come on ladies, wave your legs in the air

That got your attention!

Steve and I have just done something out of character. No - we didn't 'wave our legs in the air'; we attended a dinner and "Songs from the West End Sing-a-Long".

The reason being it was a prize. The owners of the High Rocks Inn  in Tunbridge Wells, the venue for the Association's Annual Dinner, kindly donated two tickets for the meal and show as a raffle prize. The lady who won it didn't really wish to attend (she lived quite some distance away). I offered to buy the prize from her , donating the money to Association funds, which she agreed. Everyone a winner!

The venue owners, Guiseppe and Maggie Cappalazzi, were incredibly generous. Not only did they give the prize, but also sent across a bottle of Champagne and liqueurs. We were also seated at the best table in the room; directly in front of the stage. They couldn't have been kinder. And the food was super. 

As we entered and were escorted to our seat, Steve said, "there are an awful lot of people here staring at you.  Now they're waving."  I nervously glanced around the room to see two thirds of those attending were local Party members. With fifty pairs of eyes watching, I waved in the general direction of the crowd; a bit like Eva Peron from the balcony of The Casa Rosada. Any hope of a quiet, low key evening out with my partner quickly evaporated, however, when the following announcement boomed over the PA system, "Ladies and gentlemen, please give a big welcome to our Conservative Party prize winners, Andrew Kennedy and Steve."  

All around me I could hear them chuntering. "I knew he was one of those" and "is that what Steve looks like". Then, right on cue, just as the background music died away, one old duck at a table behind could be clearly heard saying to her guests, "he's supposed to be on a sponsored slim, not sure if he's started it yet."  Another formidable Grande Dame appeared in between courses, and without so much as a "hello" or "how are you" said to Steve, "you don't look much like a vicar to me." Don't you just love Tory women! 

My heart went out however to the entertainers; two perfectly nice singers who had to try and get a response from what must have been the most critical audience in Kent. "Join in on the chorus", "sing along if you know it", "come on - everybody sing" were all met with stony silence. Finally, in an attempt to get some participation, "wave your arms in the air". Nothing. At this point he was standing alongside a table containing Tunbridge Wells Conservative's very own coiffured Hyacinth Bouquet. "Well, if you cannot wave your arms, how about waving your legs in the air" he said, with a wink in her direction.  

The thought of this particular member waving anything in the air, let alone her legs, was too absurd to contemplate. Unfortunately, this was the very same lady who in the very same room a year earlier had almost passed-out when Stanley Johnson told her that the RSPCA had given him the Dick Large award because he has a large dick. She had clearly remembered the slight. As she left she stopped at my table, eyes narrowing, and said, "I suppose you put him up to that, I don't find such smut at all amusing."

That was an interesting evening, said Steve as we left. Maybe next week you'd like to come with me to the Church Quiz Night. 

LibDems: When you needed them most, they were not there....

On Saturday we launched our EMPTY CHAIR campaign in Maidstone, highlighting the irresponsible behaviour of the Borough's Liberal Democrat councillors, who publically boycotted the Council's Local Plan meeting, abdicating their responsibilities as the Borough's official opposition and letting-down the people they were elected to represent.

Conservative Council Leader, Chris Garland, summed the situation up nicely;

"When Maidstone Council was discussing the most important Local Plan for generations, local Lib Dem councillors failed to show up. The promised to stop development in the countryside, but when the crunch-time came they bunked-off and let down the very people who elected them to look after their interests. This is a wholly irresponsible approach, motivated purely by self-interest.

They have demonstrated, by their absence, that they have no courage, no ability to shape the debate or make the difficult decisions which go with the responsibility of elected office. 

This is in stark contrast to a Conservative Group which fights the corner for local people, and has the mettle to take tough decisions when they need to be made - such as providing new homes in suitable locations across the borough."

I designed this "Empty Chair" leaflet to accompany the campaign. 30,000 copies of which will be delivered across the Borough over the next two weeks. I am actually quite pleased with the stark simplicity of the front page.

Motivating Maidstone

I was pleased to organise a Candidates' and Key Activists' Training Day for Maidstone Borough's Conservative Candidates yesterday (Saturday 5 April). It was a great turnout with every available candidate attending. The promise of free bacon sandwiches and coffee must have done the trick!  After my own presentation on the forthcoming campaign, Maidstone & The Weald MP also addressed the meeting.

I will blog further photographs soon, though everyone enjoyed the irony of the meeting being held in the Motivation Suite! 

We also used the meeting to launch our powerful "EMPTY CHAIR" campaign, highlighting the irresponsibility of the Borough's opposition Lib Dems, who boycotted a recent meeting to discuss the Borough's Housing Plan, demonstrating a total lack of leadership and letting down the very people who they were elected to represent.