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. This is the last Diary of 2009 but if you are a candidate and would like to be featured in the New Year, please email Jonathan Isaby.
This
week's diary is written by Steve Baker, who was selected on 31st October
for Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, where Paul Goodman - who is joining
ConservativeHome as Contributing Editor - is standing down at the election and bequeathing a notional majority of 7,597. Steve is a
professional aerospace and software engineer whose career spans the Royal Air
Force and a variety of software-related businesses, and is married to
Beth, a general practitioner who will shortly be leaving the Royal Air Force. Steve is an Associate
Consultant to the Centre for Social Justice and Corporate Affairs Director of
The Cobden Centre, an educational charity for honest money and social progress.
Steve finds that being PPC for Wycombe is "both more awesome and more magnificent
than opening the door of an aeroplane in flight and jumping out".
Monday 14th December
We are
now happily ensconced in High Wycombe, close enough to the M40 that I am
developing my affinity for the M40 Chiltern Environmental Group
and their aims. Aside from campaigning for Wycombe, I develop The Cobden Centre, which seeks to
widen the debate on economics and society, so I spent the morning
writing about the legal status of banking contracts, illustrating the peculiar status of demand deposits.
After reviewing the closure of Holywell Mead pool, I met Paul Goodman MP in Parliament to discuss local issues and Wycombe Hospital in particular. As Paul said recently, "no other single issue compares to it in terms of the interest, concern and anxiety it arouses."
Tuesday 15th December
The
voluntary sector is active in Wycombe: I work locally with
the homeless and I was delighted to discover the expanding Oasis Project run by Elim
Christian Centre, Lane End, which delivers community learning for
disadvantaged youth and underprivileged families.
Dropping by the office to plot the campaign with charming and incisively intelligent agent Sue Hynard - the best there is - allowed a surprise meeting with politics and sociology student, Lauren, a Wycombe girl on work experience. Lauren's questions were impressive and we had a lively debate on practical and philosophical politics.
I learned that RAF Cottesmore is to close. Beth and I have lived there
twice: once when I left the RAF and then as the Iraq war started and I saw my
wife go to war.
Such a thing leaves an impression and I am sorry once again that the armed
forces are paying the price for Labour's incompetence.
At an Executive meeting, the Association elected the energetic Jonathan Palmer-Garrett to follow the resolute Councillor Robert Woollard as Chairman. Happily, my speech was well received: I understand I talk a lot of sense for one who is not a politician, feedback we could probably analyse at some length!
Wednesday 16th December
In light
snow, Sue and I toured the Constituency to pay particular attention to the hot
issues and those wards which will be new to us at the next election: Hazlemere
plus Tylers Green and Loudwater. We all know I have big boots to fill in
following Paul Goodman, but it turns out that, in those areas, I must also follow two
further excellent MPs: Cheryl Gillan and Dominic Grieve. Gosh.
I was reminded again what a remarkably diverse constituency Wycombe is, in every respect. Town and country, wealth and deprivation, mosque and church, farmers and London commuters: all exist beside one another in Wycombe. This is a joy and a challenge!
Complementing my Christmas cards for members, we decided to run a banner in the Christmas edition of the Bucks Free Press (related photo above). I wait with trepidation to see what editorial decision is made on the content above it...
Beth and I rounded off the day with a traditional carol service, followed by refreshments. With the evenings dark, I have been seizing these opportunities to meet local people.
Thursday 17th December
The Financial Times reported
market movements in response to a Federal Reserve announcement, so I brought
forward my review of Roger Koppl's Big
Players and the Economic Theory of Expectations, which explores this
phenomenon, one we see all too often.
Beth and I spent the day with her parents, who, thankfully, didn't mind me finishing my Christmas cards. They are right behind my political efforts and, as life-long teachers, they have much to say on education, particularly teacher training.
At the invitation of Association Vice President Miss Thelma Dimmock, Beth and I were delighted to attend a concert by Wycombe's Angelicus Choir. Thelma - pictured with Louise Child of Angelicus - has been active in the Party for something over 50 years, against which I think perhaps most of us are novices.
Friday 18th December
Friday was marked by proper snow. As in all times of
adversity, events brought out the best in people. A neighbour and I helped the
gas man escape our steep road, leaving a shovel - which no one stole - with the
provided grit. I later bumped into a couple who had each spread some grit
in order to do their bit: much better than moaning that our
minor road is untreated.
My day quickly became one of cancellations. I was scheduled to visit The Oasis Partnership, to meet Wycombe's imams and to discuss funding sports facilities. All were postponed: victims of our glorious terrain and the weather.
Bigger news than the weather was Terry Wogan's last breakfast show. It wasn't until I passed the age of about 30 that I came to appreciate Wogan's light-hearted open rebellion against the absurdity of contemporary life. Chris Evans too, has big boots to fill.
Saturday 19th December
With
temperatures between -3 and -1 degrees Celsius forecast for the morning, my hardy
colleagues and I readily agreed that it would be a rubbish idea to invite
Loudwater residents to stand chatting with their front doors open. And so fell
another victim of the weather.
We have made the most of Saturday mornings and previous outings have gone well. People have been transformed by a few simple pledges: "I will live in the constituency", "I will arrange my affairs as for London commuting" and so on. With these basics out of the way, we have had some super conversations about healthcare, taxes, the economy, society and - dare I write it? - Europe.
So, held back by the weather, I pored over the general election campaign pack once more and read a primer on Ludwig von Mises, to be published by the Institute of Economic Affairs, to which I have been asked to contribute. Why Mises? Because he knew how to align ends and means:
Society is cooperation; it is community in action.Sunday 21st December
I was
still reeling this morning from the failure
of the planners to agree a plan in Copenhagen, but, as I cleared the snow
from my car to drive to church, I was reminded by my "Carbon Neutral Vehicle"
sticker to ensure that I remain fully carbon offset: those who are
concerned still have opportunities for personal responsibility.
Beth and I took a wonderful walk down to the Rye and through the woods of Daws Hill. Yet again, I was reminded that Wycombe is a superb place to be: Merry Christmas!
Last week's Diary was written by Claire Perry, PPC for Devizes
