Last week we reported that Jill Skalla was stepping down as our candidate in Colchester. In the thread of conmments generated by that news the comment reproduced below was left by a candidate in a non-target seat. It's a comment, not a prepared article so isn't perfectly crafted. Nonetheless it's very worth reading if you missed it at the time:
"The time and energy commitment required of me as a candidate did not come as a surprise: I expected it and meeting people and talking to them has been the best part of the job.
But the financial commitment is unexpectedly huge and almost ruinous: rent, bills and train fares have run into thousands already with not one single penny refunded. As a candidate in a non-target seat without an agent and without funds - all the funds from my seat were diverted to the target seat nearby- all I can do is talk to people. There is no money, there are no leaflets , so nothing to deliver. I have been warned off accepting help from people who have offered it, if they were also helping the target seat. I have been told if I win and he doesn't I am in trouble!
After a brief period of shocked paralysis I decided to just carry on talking to people and this is what I do, though I have just taken a few weeks off for the huge blisters on my feet (from tramping around the seat) to heal. The Association believed from the outset that the seat was unwinnable (it isn't) and so are loath to do anything at all. Appallingly inappropriate remarks were made by the outgoing agent about my age, and about the fact that the candidate here could be anyone at all as it was so hopeless! Members fees from my constituency have been diverted to help the nearby target seat too, even though it is receiving Ashcroft money.
This sounds pretty bad, but to be honest, I don't care. I get such good feedback from people on the doorstep and on the phone(with raw feet I reverted to the telephone)that I don't feel unsupported. I AM supported by all the people I meet, even though it is supposed to be a Labour seat. But now what was a large Labour majority is predicted to be in the region of just 3%.
If I win, I will have done it myself with the help and moral support of a small, eclectic and loyal band I recruited myself who have backed me and who are- with one notable and fine exception- independent of the Association.
If I don't win, at least I know I will have tried. And I'll have a lot of new friends and a place that I know and love better than almost anywhere. This is - as the other candidates have said quite rightly - the most difficult thing I have ever done in my whole life. But for the experience of meeting and knowing an amazing variety of fascinating people from all walks of life, in a beautiful city, I am grateful.
The Association, by not helping, has in one sense freed me to engage with the electorate face to face and not spend precious time and energy buttering up the Branches- who couldn't care less anyway.
I wish Jill all the very best. Hers was a brave decision not taken lightly. Until we can afford to organise a system of real support for all candidates..or disband all Associations and start again... this situation will recur. But it is only natural and should not to be seen as any sort of disaster. One thing we should all remember: Candidates are only human. So are the people in associations: they too are volunteers, often elderly, many of whom have worked for the Party for years, for nothing.
Give us all a break. Or even better, try it for yourselves..."
