My First Campaign

So it's all over. I've delivered over 3,000 leaflets and my feet are still recovering, I've spoken to a lot of people and I've even had people say they'll vote for me! How many, I'll find out tomorrow (well, later today by the time this gets posted). It's been interesting and I've learned a lot. There's a great deal I'd do differently if/when I run again but I'm just really pleased that I've actually done it. I've stood as a candidate for the county council! My name's been on an official ballot paper!!

Today was the day it was all building towards. It didn't start off as well as I'd hoped. I was really tired and struggled out of bed, then took Hux for his morning walk. Just as we got to the fields the heavens opened and I got soaked - I had my coat but not my waterproof trousers, which was a big mistake. I cut our walk short, went home and changed my jeans then had breakfast before heading to my polling station to cast my vote (can't forget that!). 

On then to the polling station for the ward I was standing in. I arrived to find my opponent already there. I'd not met her before and felt a bit nervous, especially as I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing. We made some small talk and I tried to figure out what I was there for, which mainly seemed to be smiling at people, chatting if they wanted to and directing them to the station as it wasn't entirely clear where they were to go. I went to work after the commuter run was over and mum took over from me until I came back for the next commuter run. We stayed the rest of the evening except for an hour where we went for some dinner. 

At 10pm the church bells rang and the station was closed. We were allowed in to the station to see the ballot boxes being sealed and then we headed to Scotch Horn where the ballots were being separated into national and local elections. The national votes are being counted tonight but the council votes are relegated to the daylight hours of friday. It was really interesting to see how it all worked "behind the scenes". When we went into Scotch Horn the TV screens were showing the BBC election coverage and there were several be-suited men standing around wearing conservative rosettes. I followed the signs for "Election 2015" and found the sports hall transformed. Rows of people sat wearing fluorescent jackets with piles of paperclips and rubber bands waiting patiently for ballots. We were directed to a table where we had to sign a form saying we wouldn't attempt to count the votes or tell anyone, or something like that, and then we were allowed to wander around. 

There were press! Sky and the BBC and a few other reporters from papers, although their numbers seemed to dwindle after a while. It was weird to think that I might be on TV but if I was it'd be background stuff for Sky at the very most. It took a while for things to get started but slowly, as ballots started arriving, things got moving and soon there was lot going on. We were allowed to chat to the people sorting the ballots which was nice and I had a good gossip with some of them. It seemed like mum and I were the only ones of the 'political' people to be enjoying ourselves - everyone else seemed to be so serious. There was a sea of blue rosettes but as the first hour came to a close there were more parties represented, but all were stern of face and fierce of gaze. I realise it's all really important, though also a foregone conclusion that Liam Fox will win, but it seemed like just a job to so many people there which made me sad, especially as a surprising number of the Tories were rather young. This is democracy in action! Show some passion!

The council count is happening in Weston tomorrow. We're going to go down to see it - we didn't get to see the actual count for the national election as they were still sorting the ballots when we left. I don't know how well I will do, but I'm really glad I've done it. I've got another post to write about politics and political engagement but I'm too tired to do it justice right now. So I'll leave things here for now. Win or lose, I've tried to engage in the political process and I've learned a lot. Regardless of the outcome, that's a good result as far as I'm concerned.