We recently featured a piece by Hamish Fulton, who explained why he answered David Cameron's call for new candidates to come forward. Here Bob Greig, a single father who has always voted Labour, explains why he responded to David Cameron's call and is seeking selection for a constituency after being accepted onto the approved candidates' list.
When preparing my application form to become a Conservative Parliamentary Candidate earlier this year I spent a lot of time hesitating!
Urging me on was David Cameron’s request for new people to put themselves forward. That request hit me with force. It was simple really. I knew I could offer the Party some valuable insights on welfare and benefit reform and do the day to day work of an MP. I also knew I had the heart and the intellect to really fulfill the role.
But things putting me off were the very simple facts that to date I had never voted Conservative, I was not a member of the Party, and my CV was very different to the PPCs I was reading about on the Conservative web site. In place of “short stint with the Guards before pursuing a successful career in the City”, it read “single parent, redundancy, and a short stint on incapacity benefit”. Not exactly traditional Tory stuff!
My application forms were on hold for now.
I’ve been a single parent now for six years. In that period I have had to change jobs, I have been made redundant, moved house three times, spent thousands of hours nurturing my youngest girl who for the first couple of years seemed a bit lost, and many more dealing with my eldest child who has acute emotional difficulties. I have spent all my limited savings trying to keep the show on the road, and in the middle of this I developed a severe anxiety/panic disorder which kept me away from full-time work for the best part of 18 months. With that embarrassing condition (which too few sufferers can still talk about) I lost self confidence, stopped socialising, and basically stopped living.
This was made harder because I come from what used to be called “solid working class stock”. From being the first family member to get to University to being the first to receive government welfare is a hard, life-changing, journey to make.
And life-changing it was. For out of these experiences I set about trying to improve the lot of others who find themselves in similar positions.
But let me go back a bit further. I studied Theology at King’s College, London. One of the standard texts to study is the Parable of the Good Samaritan. In that story, it is the incidental detail that is often missed. Rather than just being kind, our Samaritan friend knew what to do and how to help. He gave the man on the roadside first aid, he knew where the nearest hotel was, and he had the wherewithal to take him there and the money to pay the bill!
This is more than just being a “good neighbour”. This is about total dedication and the ability to help someone get back on their feet.
If anyone reading this has, like me, fallen flat on their face, you will know that looking to the State as a Good Samaritan is not going to work for you. Our welfare system in this country is dire. I could almost go as far as to say that it hinders more than it helps.
“You are in difficulty - have some money” is not welfare, and benefits no-one.
My family background taught me from an early age to look out for others – so these difficult experiences led me to set up www.OnlyDads.org as a way of supporting other single Dads. This enterprise has grown. Quickly!
Today, OnlyDads, and its new sister organisation www.OnlyMums.org are revolutionising the way single parents can be supported. Our commitment is to offer holistic advice, signposting to professionals in commercial practice where needed, as well as towards other agencies and charities. Advice and direction is offered immediately and more importantly, delivered with understanding and empathy.
I ask myself very obvious questions: why is it whenever a personal tragedy hits the news headlines (as it did just last week, for example, with the Pilkington case) do we hear that “agencies were not working together”. For me the answer is downright obvious. Here is a perfect example of how this can be remedied: multiple agency support offering rounded and comprehensive advice under one roof – isn’t it interesting how the Government have reacted to our initiatives with no support and a complete lack of interest?
I was further spurred on politically to set these organisations up by listening to James Purnell keep using the word “tough” about his proposals for welfare reform. Having recently come off Incapacity Benefit and still being a single parent, I listened with some unease, perhaps even distaste, at what he was saying.
The benefit and welfare system is not working in this country because it is not helping people get back on their feet. It is badly designed, badly operated, and delivered without heart. Doling out more of the same but with added “toughness” was missing the point.
What really tipped the balance for me was the realisation that I got off welfare by deploying Conservative values. Personal responsibility came first. Giving my daughters a Dad they could be proud of was, and is, central to my whole life. That motivation was backed up by hard work, and entrepreneurship, but with an ongoing drive to support those less fortunate.
So for me it was inspiring to read that David Cameron was promising a “Radical” review of Welfare and Benefit delivery in this country. And when I wrote to Theresa May’s Office with some thoughts on the Green Paper it was testament to that openness for new ideas that there was a readiness to engage with some of my thoughts on how things could be improved.
Application still not sent
But there remained a critical question. Should a man like me have a place in the Conservative Party was the question I asked myself over and over again, until I realised that it was not me who could or even should answer the question. So I sent off my application to leave the answer to the experts!
It’s in the Post
Becoming a Conservative has been a bit of an eye opener! My Parliamentary Assessment Board in London was my first ever experience of my new Party, and I could not have been more impressed with the overall administrative competence and care I encountered when applying.
I made a few phone calls to friends and family after my PAB and was able to state, hand on heart, that I didn’t know the result, but in a sense that really didn’t matter, because I was able to be honest and open, and I really felt listened to, and if they wanted me then I would say “yes” and work hard and give of my best. I found everyone I encountered on this journey totally supportive.
At a local level (I live in Totnes and got through to the penultimate interview for replacing Anthony Steen), I knew that I was not going to be chosen as the local MP. Too risky I’m sure to employ someone so politically wet behind the ears. So I will help Sarah Wollaston, our successful candidate, at election time for sure.
But what has been really interesting about my entry into the world of politics is the reaction of friends and family - I guess mostly Labour men and women, but I have not heard one negative comment! They know, like we all know, that it is time to replace a very tired Government.
