Rupert Matthews is third on the list of candidates for the East Midlands
at June's European Parliament election. Here he gives us an update on
that campaign.
If you are an MEP candidate and would like to write about the campaign in your region for ConservativeHome, please email Jonathan Isaby.
The Euro Campaign in the East Midlands has been one of the more interesting of the various elections in which I have stood as a candidate. The pace has been brisk, and has been quickening as we get closer to the start line for the formal campaign in May/June.
Compared to being a Council or Parliamentary Candidate, the Euro Campaign has been rather odd for us Euro Candidates. We have had no Branch or Association to support us and although everyone across the East Midlands party has been very helpful, it is not quite the same. Similarly, with six counties and around 3.5 million voters to cover, campaigning has been very different.
As a Council Candidate or Parliamentary Candidate, you could expect to get involved with specific issues and concerns. There are very few of these that cover the entire East Midlands that we can make our own. Usually, of course, it is Parliamentary and County candidates who have ownership of issues – and quite right too.
Our team in Derby, for instance, has been quick to highlight Labour’s dreadful decision to take a contract for railway rolling stock away from that city. We have helped out whenever we can. Council by-elections have been among the key events for getting stuck into street campaigning. I’ve lost count of the number of times we have been out delivering, canvassing or manning street stalls to back up local campaign teams. Great fun, and how I was brought to campaign from the great 1979 victory onwards.
It has to be said that on the doorstep the EU is not the most burning issue of concern to the general public. Most people are initially more bothered about the economy, Gordon Brown’s incompetence, local schools, local planning issues and so forth. Only when I introduce myself as a Euro Candidate do I get any response on the EU issue. When people do talk about the EU, they are almost always critical of the EU. Often this is a generalised feeling that the EU should stop telling Britain what to do, but sometimes there have been some quite specific comments from people who have come across an EU regulation or ruling – usually to their cost.
Attending social events has also been a priority. Getting to know the Conservative activists is especially important for Euro Candidates. After all we have no chance of knocking on 2 million doors ourselves, and we are relying on our deliverers, canvassers and workers to do much of the street work for us. Fortunately they have been very welcoming and supportive. Mind you, my suits are a little tighter than when I was selected. The food in the East Midlands is just so tempting – Melton Mowbray pies, Lincolnshire sausages, Derbyshire cheese! Roll on the campaign and the endless pavement pounding!
With only five MEP candidates – Roger Helmer, Emma McClarkin, myself, Fiona Bulmer and George Lee – in the East Midlands, we have faced some interesting challenges and opportunities. It has been relatively easy to co-ordinate our activities as a team. Getting everyone together for regular meetings has been fairly straightforward, but on the other hand finding somebody to deputise for an event when you find yourself double-booked is not so easy.
It is always unfair to pick out a few names from the many that have helped us, but I must thank our current Regional Chairman, Linda Kirk, and her predecessor, Dudley Bryant, for their help and our Regional Agent, David Surtees, for his invaluable support.
As we head into the final straight, I can report that the East Midlands is fully geared up for the Euro and County elections. Everyone seems eager for the fray and keen to get stuck in to give Gordon Brown a biff on the nose, ready for the General Election whenever that may come
