Each week a different PPC provides us with an insight into
life as a candidate and gives us a flavour of their own campaign and
interests. If you are a candidate
and are keen to be featured, please email Jonathan Isaby. This week’s diary is written by Iain Stewart,
candidate
for Milton Keynes South. Having stood in 2001 and 2005 in Milton Keynes South West -
which makes up most of the new seat - he was fast-tracked as PPC soon
after the last election. Following the boundary changes, Iain is facing a notional Labour majority of 1,497 against the incumbent MP, Dr Phyllis Starkey.
Monday 22nd June
The alarm bleeps into life at the usual 5.45am. It’s never my best time of day but this morning I’m feeling even more sluggish than normal as I got back home late on Sunday after a flying visit to Scotland for a family event.
Most days I get the 7am train from Bletchley into Euston for my day job. I’m a headhunter for Odgers Berndtson, working in Virginia Bottomley’s team. In the current climate, our services are much in demand! Working with Virginia is great fun but also incredibly demanding. She is also an unofficial mentor to me, giving me wise advice on my budding Parliamentary career; and she is incredibly understanding when PPC duties intrude into normal work time.
Today I’m also keeping a close eye on the race to become the new Speaker. I had a vested interest in John Bercow winning; my seat is part of a grouping arrangement with his and, with him contesting the next election as a Speaker candidate rather than as a Conservative, that could free up valuable resources for Milton Keynes!! Seriously, I do wish him all the best in helping to restore the battered image of Parliament.
My other distraction today is trying to get to grips with my new iPhone. I wouldn’t say I’m a technophobe but it took me the best part of lunchtime to work out where to put the SIM card!
I dash out the office at 5.30pm to catch the 5.54pm train back home for a Shenley Brook End & Tattenhoe Parish Council meeting. I’ve been a Parish Councillor for the last four years (not claiming any of the expenses to which I’m entitled!) and it is a rewarding role and gives me a valuable insight into local issues. Mention Parish Councils and most people conjure up an image from the Vicar of Dibley but our Parish serves over 20,000 residents and has a budget of approximately £400,000. Tonight’s meeting covers a wide range of topics from awarding grant to a local youth football team to our future business plan. The meeting finishes at 9.45pm and I get home just in time to catch up with the Speaker election on the news.
Tuesday 23rd June
Another 5.45am start but I’m feeling much more energised today. After arriving in London, I meet up for a quick coffee and catch-up chat with my good friend Michael Hogg, who used to work in the House for Ann Widdecombe. We briefly muse on the Speaker election. Although it is only a half-hour chat, I cherish these random opportunities to catch up with friends.
I am depressed to be stuck inside the office on such a beautiful sunny day; my only respite was a quick walk to Pret and back for a sandwich at lunchtime.
No PPC engagements tonight, but my train home is infuriatingly slow. We are delayed for “operational reasons”. So helpful! When I finally make it back to MK, I’m in a foul mood and head to the gym to work off some tension. Then home for supper and catch up on some follow-up correspondence from some of my meetings last week (Chambers of Commerce, Homes and Communities Agency and the MK Criminal Defence Solicitors to name but three). I also start some prep for two upcoming speeches I have – one for a Party fundraiser and another on “the philosophy that underpins my political views” for the University of the Third Age in MK. I won’t trouble readers with a detailed thesis on the latter, suffice to say that Burke, Hayek and Adam Smith will feature prominently!
Wednesday 24th June
Alarm goes off again at 5.45am but I hit the snooze button a couple of times, which makes catching my train tight. I make it, just, after an impressive sprinting effort over the footbridge at Bletchley station.
I work until quite late in the office and then head to Battersea to see another friend, Mark. He is kindly cooking supper and letting me crash in his spare room to avoid me having to make a late journey back to MK only to retrace my steps a few hours later. I haven’t seen him in quite a while and we put the world to rights over a glass or two of vino. I try to keep one evening a week free from work or PPC duties. I’m not always successful!
Thursday 25th June
No 5.45 alarm (hooray!) but the day is longer than normal as I have to work late and, again, the trains are messed-up on the way home. I don’t get back until 10.30pm and my plans for the evening are wrecked. It depresses me that, after the billions of pounds spent on upgrading the West Coast Main Line, we still do not have a reliable service.
Friday 26th June
I don’t go into the office on Fridays but juggle work commitments from home with meetings in the constituency. I start the day with an early morning training session in the gym with my wonderful personal trainer, Chris. “Wonderful” Chris quickly becomes “Evil” Chris as the session progresses and my muscles scream for mercy! Joking aside, I do really value these sessions which keep my physically in shape for the campaign and mentally give me a focus away from work and politics. I’ve also come to value Chris as a really good friend and confidant.
After some work at home, I drive over to Oxford, where I have agreed to be the guest speaker at the Oxford Conservatives Lunch Club – supporting our two excellent candidates there: Nicola Blackwood and Ed Argar. Then back to my campaign office to meet my agent – the brilliant Evelyn Joy – to prepare for the weekend’s campaigning. This evening I am out with one of our new Councillors, Gerald Small (pictured), in the Emerson Valley ward. Traditionally a Lib Dem stronghold, Gerald took the seat off them last May on his third time standing and is proving to be an excellent local councillor. Hopefully I will emulate his “third time lucky” victory! Issues on the doorstep tonight range from broken street signs to the Conservative Prison Policy! Overall, the response was very favourable.
Saturday 27th June Today our Saturday campaign team is out in the Whaddon ward in West Bletchley, which has long been a Conservative/Labour battleground. I’m joined by Uroy Clarke, who also the gained the seat for us in 2008, and by Bev Caprice who is looking to take the second seat in the ward next year. Both Uroy and Bev are hugely dedicated to their local community and again we get an excellent feedback.
I then head to the Bletchley Conservative Club to catch up with the regulars there and, more critically, to rehydrate. By the time we finished the canvass, the temperature was 25⁰!
Back home to watch some Wimbledon for the first time this week. I also multi-task and do a bit for the Norwich North campaign by addressing and stuffing some envelopes. I have this theory that, however sophisticated campaigns become and however senior you become in politics, you always revert at some point to envelope stuffing!
Finally, in the evening I head off for an Association fund-raising wine-tasting party. Or, more accurately, a fizzy water tasting party for me as I am driving! Thankfully it is such a beautiful sunny evening that we can enjoy the fresh air outside.
Sunday 28th June I normally start Sundays by going out for a long run with my running-buddy, Kate. We’ve done a couple of half-marathons together (as proven by the picture, which also includes Chris) and she is such a fun and inspirational character. Mind you, I’m sure we could run further and faster if we talked less! She is away on holiday this weekend but I resist the temptation to “bunk off” and manage a run myself.
Then I undo the health benefits of the run with some butter croissants, jam and a pot of coffee while digesting the Sunday papers.
Today I have to make a number of house calls to residents who have asked for my help with some problems they are having, and also follow-up some other casework. Today’s issues include an immigration case and a new bus route which is upsetting residents on one of the newer estates in Milton Keynes.
I round off the weekend by attending a MK City Orchestra concert, of which I am a patron. The programme includes Beethoven’s Choral symphony, one of my favourite pieces, with the choral part sung by the Open University choir. Quite apart from the beautiful music, is a useful networking event. Then off to bed to await the dreaded 5.45 alarm….
Next week's Diary will be written by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, PPC for Berwick upon-Tweed. Last week we featured a Diary from Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North)
