by Paul Goodman
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Spirits are being raised and dreams shattered as I write. The post-election assessment process for those on the old candidates' list is over. Letters have been sent from CCHQ to those who were on it, letting them know whether or not their names are still to remain on. The signature at the bottom of those letters is that of Carlyn Chisholm. Jonathan reported last year that she was to co-chair the Candidate Committee with Baroness Browning.
I saw Chisholm earlier this week at CCHQ, and write briefly about her background below. But facts first - those that are available, at any rate. CCHQ won't say how large a list it's aiming for - when I floated a figure of a thousand, Chisholm told me that "it won't be as high as that" - but I gather from other sources that it will most likely settle down at about 700. Unsurprisingly, CCHQ is keeping mum about how many people have been removed from the old list. There will be no "A-list".
Parliamentary Assessment Boards will start soon and carry on all the way through until 2015, assuming the Parliament lasts that long. However, the new constituency boundaries don't come into effect until late 2013. This raises a question: if a candidate passes a board this summer, what is he or she going to do for the next two and a half years? The answer is that each one will choose a region to be assigned to, and be expected to work there. I expect that attendance at by-elections will be compulsory.
But come 2013, they'll be able to apply to any seat, anywhere - assuming, of course, that they're not already subject to restrictions, such as being approved for the City Seats Initiative only. I'm told by other sources that those on the old list were assessed for: energy and commitment; campaign leadership and motivation; conviction; manner and attitude; depth and intellect; communication and ability to relate to people, commitment to inclusion and diversity.
Some of this sounds rather subjective. Then again, it would be hard to reach agreement on what an objective process would look like. Chisholm told me that "we certainly will" discuss with former list members who haven't made it back on what their assessments found. She will have nothing to do with the process whereby MPs apply for new seats, in those cases in which their constituencies are either abolished or sustantially altered by the boundary review. CCHQ is also keeping mum about the Euro-selection process.
My sense is that the enthusiasm within the Powers-That-Be for finding candidates with no real background in the Party has passed its high-water mark, though not to the degree that the interest in open primaries has cooled (which it clearly has, since the Coalition Agreement plan for 200 all-postal primaries has apparently been dropped). Both were spurred by the expenses scandal, and the eagerness of Team Cameron to hitch a lift on the anti-politics bandwagon.
I believe that the being a candidate is tougher than it was in my day - the costs are higher, CCHQ monitoring more active, the media more frenetic than ever. Jonathan and Tim have written previously on the site about money and opportunities respectively, the latter making the case for help for low-income candidates. Chisholm didn't go further than saying that CCHQ is "thinking about this issue", but I felt that I was far from being the first person to raise the matter with her.
She said that CCHQ aims to meet up with candidates "two or three times" a year. Were I a candidate in a marginal seat, I'd rather this happen (for all my accumulated layers of cynicism about CCHQ) than not: being a candidate can be a lonely business, and both solidarity and guidance can be welcome. By the way, the Equality Act-driven changes that experienced selection committee members noted during the last Parliament will continue: candidates won't be required to disclose if they're married (for example).
Chisholm has been a member of the party "for about twelve years", and is based in the Stroud constituency, from which she worked her up through the voluntary party network. For reasons that say more about me than her, I'd somehow expected her to be a businesswoman: in fact, she trained as a nurse, dropped out of work when she had children, and returned to nursing later. But during that in-between period, she volunteered as a Samaritan.
This listening experience is bound to come in useful. "My experience of politics really come from the grassroots up," she told me. "It's politics will a small "p", and I've got a particular interest in the people aspect." I'll say, since she assured me that all candidates "have my mobile number". I expect that the line will be busy. By the way, she told me that there are no plans to replace Baroness Browning, who was recently appointed to the Home Office team. So she's on her own.
