John Bradley: How Conservative social action is making a difference in Glasgow

John Bradley is the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Glasgow Central.

David Cameron remarked after his first walkabout in Glasgow as Tory leader how delighted he was not to be headbutted. This was not a slight on the good people of Scotland’s biggest city – this was a self-deprecating nod to the fact that the Conservatives have, for many years, not been very popular in Glasgow.

I was not so lucky as the party leader. The first time I went leafleting in Glasgow, I made a schoolboy error. I started at the bottom of a block of flats, and worked my way up. This meant that by the time I came down again, the residents at the bottom of the building knew there was a Tory in there. Unfortunately one resident threw a leaflet back at me wrapped around dog excrement – so I suppose it was natural that when I embarked on social action projects in the city it began with environmental clean-ups. After all – the less mess in the street, the fewer potential missiles to be aimed at me!

And what a transformation occurs in a community’s perception of politicians when they engage in local projects.  Oliver Letwin said recently that it’s a delusion to imagine most people are concerned with detailed policy. Perhaps he has a point. In Glasgow people are most concerned about things that affect their daily lives – like the litter in their streets and graffiti on their garden walls. Social action in a community like that is a no-brainer. You have to get involved. And it is incredibly satisfying. Bringing in local communities, and seeing their delight at what all of us have achieved at the end of a day’s work is simply magnificent.