Having just returned from a three day campaign tour of the West Midlands for the upcoming Euro and local elections - visiting a car factory, two mosques, numerous shopping centres, knocking on hundreds of doors and attending campaign meetings with various candidates it has given me fresh perspectives on the current political crisis.
After two weeks of avidly watching the expenses gate saga unfold in the newspapers it was refreshing to get out on the doorsteps and realise that the great British voters hold more nuanced perspectives than the media gives them credit for:
Here are my three reflections from the front line:
1. Voters are very angry but they are also confused - not knowing what to do with their vote. A protest vote will be uneven and temporary.
Contrary to widespread media speculation - the evidence I found was that alongside the deep anger and frustration with politicians voters are not embracing the minor parties in a consistent way. My impression was that people understand the main three parties are the only conceivable parties of government locally and nationally and they realise that minor parties do not offer a real solution to the crisis. Yes, they want the mess sorted out; they want to see MPs who have made dodgy claims get their comeuppance but the notion that we will see hundreds of BNP and UKIP Cllrs or MEPs emerging is unlikely - their share of the vote will increase this time but this will be a temporary phenomena.
This is not to say I think there is room for any complacency. It will be different everywhere but people can see the opportunism of the BNP and UKIP and it is politicians in general they are fed up with - the BNP and UKIP, alongside their obvious substantive flaws on policy , are not perceived to be any better than Labour, Lib Dem or Conservative.
What did go down well was the line "forget the national media noise - look at what your local candidate has done for you" - by decoupling from the national scene and focusing on the practical change delivered on the ground a sympathetic hearing is usually gained. It was amazing how clued up people were about politics. We may have seen turnout fall by 25% over the past 25 years but I am convinced the British public do care about who governs them. Politics does matter to them!
2. We have some fantastic candidates!
It was striking how many committed and talented candidates we have in the party at all levels. In Birmingham Erdington I met Cllr Robert Alden. In the heart of a Labour MP's seat (with a 30% majority in 2005) Robert - along with his colleagues Bob Beauchamp and Gareth Compton have transformed the ward. Virtually every house I knocked on recognized their commitment to the area and hard work - involving cleaning litter strewn alley ways and securing improvements to their community in different ways.
Keely Huxtable, our candidate for the General Election in Birmingham Northfield is a breath of fresh air - with a no nonsense approach, passion and brilliant political instincts I predict she will be a surprise addition to the green benches after the next election. Finally, I have to confess, despite not being a great fan of the EU (that won't change) I have to take my hat off to Malcolm Harbour MEP. His ten years of painstaking work to secure the best deal for West Midlands and the breadth of his knowledge was humbling. I learnt a lot from his measured approach to Europe - and determination to get the best deal for his constituents from Europe. I wish them all well.
3. Don't give up on politics.
Politics is still fantastic fun. I have had the privilege to serve by working for the party for a few years, the experience of standing as a candidate and like many people who avidly read ConHome it has been gutting to watch politics be diminished over the last fortnight. If I hear another frend say, "you must be mad to want to go into that" I will scream! So it was rewarding to see so many of our activists, who despite being fearful of abuse, were willing to turn out and get on with it, defending the party and canvassing for Conservative candidates.
We are in the eye of a storm, but as with all crises in life - they pass. A new Speaker will be elected, the Daily Telegraph will finish its analysis, the media will (eventually) grow weary of the salacious details of expense claims, the system will be overhauled and we will have a General Election which I remain confident we will win.
In the meantime we need to keep the faith - faith in the discernment of the individual voters, faith in excellent candidates and faith that even though it looks dire now - lessons will be learnt and politics will be changed for the better forever.
At the end of of the day - politics is about helping people, that instinct doesn't go away. Take the dear old lady I met in Birmingham who once she had gathered I was from the Conservatives perked up and said " Yes , Conservative ? You have my vote. I want that Tony Blair out! ".
I smiled, "Consider it done Madam! " ....
