Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

The say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - but really! 

Here is my blog post of 28 April

And blow me down - look what Maidstone Lib Dems sent around by email today

Free sticky buns !

Come and join us !

If any readers have a few hours to spare on polling day and would like to see our new Campaign HQ (and help two Borough Council elections at the same time as the EU campaign) please come and join us. Free tea, coffee and sticky buns for all helpers! 

Let me know via email: westkentconservatives@gmail.com


Published and promoted by Andrew Kennedy on behalf of the Conservative Party, all at West Kent Conservative Campaign HQ, Suite 3, Paddock Wood Business Centre, Commercial Road, Paddock Wood, Tonbridge, Kent TN12 6EN

Minister in Sausage Roll shock

When asking your intern to "get the papers from Greg's" make sure you explain "Greg" as in Greg Clark MP and not "Greggs" as in four sausage rolls for the price of three.  We did wonder why it took him so long !

One swallow does not a summer make, but two UKIP-ers returning home might be the first signs of spring.

At the start of this campaign the local Conservative leadership in Tunbridge Wells agreed that we should fight a wholly positive campaign, regardless of the attacks from the opposition and negativity of UKIP. 

One swallow does not a summer make, but two emails on the day we started delivering our main election leaflet might indicate that we have struck the right tone. 

First off was this from a local candidate fighting a marginal ward:

"Ten minutes later the phone rang for the second time.  A local resident who introduced himself as retired wanted me to know that he has been rather disillusioned with politics in recent years and had switched his support from the Conservatives to UKIP.  Then came the good news.  He wanted me to know that "the conservative leaflet that was put through his door earlier today was the best and most professional  election material he had seen in his entire life".   He went on to say that "having read every word about the positive things that the conservatives had been doing locally and about you as my local candidate  I have decided to vote conservative again. You have my vote".

It just proves that it is not too late to get people to change their mind and vote for us - if we can get our positive message across - and he is right; what you have developed for us is outstanding."

Then this email, sent to the Association's email address this morning:

"I thought you may wish to know that following reading your leaflet we (thats my wife and me) steamed open our post vote and changed back from UKIP to Conservative though we have still voted UKIP for Europe. We were not very happy with the tone of UKIPs leaflets which we found were very aggressive. The work our local councillor has done on Cornford Lane and the positive messages in your leaflets won us back over. But please tell David Cameron that he needs to do more to convince people like us that we really will get our vote on Europe as we want out."



    
 

Almost there! 2 lb to go.



Long days and pounding the streets has given new impetus to my sponsored slim of late; last week I recorded a 5lb loss and this week I shed a further 2lb, bringing me to a total loss since 1 January of 3 stone and 12lb.

 

I am now just 2lb away from my target!





 

 

 

 

  

 

Memories of Maggie

Forty footsore activists made their way to Tonbridge Castle after canvassing last night, to hear Sir John Stanley recall his personal "Memories of Maggie". Sir John was Mrs Thatcher's PPS from 1976 to 1979 and then served in her three governments as Minister for Housing & Construction, Minister for the Armed Forces and finally as Minister for Northern Ireland. 

Iain Dale kindly donated copies of his book "Memories of Margaret Thatcher"
the sale of which raised £300 for Tracey Crouch's Campaign Fund

 

Sir John spoke movingly about some of the less known and little publicised acts of kindness from Mrs Thatcher, which seldom made the headlines; personal notes and cards to staff and their families at times of sadness or celebration, and a fierce private loyalty to her team.

Sir John was asked about any "amusing incidents" from his time as her PPS. He told of her visit to China in 1979, which coincided with the downfall of the "Gang of Four" and the end of the Cultural Revolution. Though only Leader of the Opposition at that time. Mrs Thatcher's visit was the most high profile for many years and she was awarded all the pomp of a Head of State, with armed police escorts, flashing motorcades and private trains. The Chinese authorities were keen to use the visit to draw a line in the sand under the Cultural Revolution and used every opportunity to blame the Gang of Four for the countries woes. At a steelworks, the low production was down to "than Gang of Four's inability to mine sufficient iron ore". At the Beijing shipyards, slow progress was blamed on "the Gang of Four's poor naval architectural skills" and so on. On the final day, they visited a factory which made hand-spun Chinese silk. The work was so fine and precise that the spinners produced, on average, about 4 square inches per day. "I wonder how the Gang of Four will be blamed for this", said Sir John.  Right in cue, the official government guide introduced himself, and said, "regrettably, due to the Gang of Four's policies, silk worms are not producing silk as fast as they did before the Cultural Revolution hence the slow progress of this factory...

Sir John also let slip (though I suspect not accidentally) "when I leave politics and start writing down my thoughts..."  Is there an autobiography or memoirs in the offing? I do hope so.

The event also raised £300 for Tracey Crouch's election campaign thanks to the generosity of Iain Dale, who donated copies of his book Memories of Margaret Thatcher, which includes a contribution from Sir John entitled "The Best Boss I Ever Had".

Owen and Chris Baldock with their "Maggie's a Winner" thumb
from the 1983 Rally at Wembley Arena.

The Election Fairy strikes again!

Following Wednesday's "Election Fairy" comment, which appears to have caught the imagination of our members (they really need to get out more), I now have to endure the Maidstone Chairman, John Wilson (and his wife Brenni) bringing in gifts with "Election Fairy" gift tags!

 

Though the content of said bag was a welcome addition to my Friday afternoon!

Dropping onto doormats now!

Now that is dropping through doormats, I thought you might like to see some of our election literature in Tunbridge Wells. 

Here are our SYWO cards

And the manifesto (obviously pages one and four changing for each candidate

Last week, the Planning Inspector gave the go-ahead for dualling the A21, a major local issue for people in West Kent and Tunbridge Wells in particular. Within 36 hours 30,000 localised leaflets celebrating the announcement were dropping on doormats.

More to follow - when the time is right ;)

Thank you, Mr Browning !

There are a group of people who are as affected by politics and campaigning as much as we are, but more often than not they never chose to be, and often have no interest or involvement. I am talking about our wives / husbands and partners. 

My long-suffering partner Steve has put up with my politics for 12 years now, without complaint. He often tells the story of how, on our first date, I spoke passionately about Libertarianism and how, in the UK, we have coalitions within political parties.  I remember him looking interested and nodding enthusiastically, which probably encouraged me to talk about it even more. I only found out years later that he didn't have a clue what I was prattling on about!

The consequences of being married to a politician or an apparatchik is often higher than many of us realise. Whilst we engage with voters, attend evening meetings, stop off for post-canvassing beer or work late night after night and most weekends too, our partners are left alone at home. This struck-home a few years ago when the weekend after polling day I apologised to Steve for being exhausted and not wanting to do anything. "Don't worry love, it's just lovely to have you back." 

It cannot be any fun for our non-political partners to live with someone who leaves home at 7am and returns at 10pm and are seldom seen at weekends either. Even on "days off" we spend our time semi-detached; more focused on our Blackberries and emails than life around us. Admittedly, the two months leading to elections are worst, but I suspect we're not the easiest people to live with any time!

So here is a thank you to Steve Browning for his love and support. 

Weight loss - one last push to raise £3,000!

It's been a while since I have updated readers about progress of my sponsored slim. 

The good news is I lost a further 5lb last week (after 2 weeks of no change). Not only great for moral but also takes me down to 18 stone 1 pound; a total loss of 3 stone and 10lb since I began the diet on 1 January - and just 4lb away from my target!

Thanks to the generosity of our members and donors, I have raised almost £2,500 for Party funds.  I am grateful to the West Kent Chairman, William Rutherford, who is making one final push to help me reach £3,000 by the end of May (see below). I have already raised sufficient money to pay for the installation of a ten-line Phone Bank at Campaign HQ. I am now hoping to raise a bit more to cover the running costs up to the General Election. 

If you have not yet sponsored me and would like to do so, please email westkentconservatives@gmail.com with your name and the amount you would like to sponsor me for.

Thank you.