One of the things I do in the party that I very much enjoy is giving training, usually at the party conference, to people who are interested in being a parliamentary candidate.

Having been a candidate for Westminster and the European Parliament, my view is you cannot get enough training and I attend many sessions as a participant too. My colleague on the Federal Executive, Ramesh Dewan, who is also a highly successful businessman, is fond of saying “a champion trains everyday.”

A lot of good training sessions end with suggestions for further reading.  Here are my suggestions for what you could read over the Easter holidays.  All of these are available from well known booksellers online or on the High Street.

THE BIGGEST POLITICAL ISSUE OF THE YEAR…

The referendum is going to define (or re-define) party politics in the UK this year and for the rest of the decade.  If you feel you need to know more about the issues the best single volume is Hugo Dixon, “The IN/OUT Question.”

Dixon’s is a very well written 130 pages.  He looks at all the main issues (and many of the myths) in the debate and gives both sides of the argument.  I currently keep this book on my desk and expect to through to 23 June.

WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN A SEAT…

One of the best ways to grasp that it takes to win a seat in parliament is to understand what others did.  Look for the Autobiographies of  Ming Campbell and Paddy Ashdown and read the chapters on their time as candidates.  Both became candidates in seats that where a long way from being Liberal wins beforehand. They built the team and infrastructure needed to win. Both of them also discuss how they balanced family life and paid-work with their political campaigning

THINKING STRATEGICALLY…

Look for Alastair Campbell’s book “Winners”.  There is a lot of insight into how the New Labour architects took their party from electoral losers to unbeatable champions. More importantly, the book is a wider study of how you succeed, how you create an objective, strategy and tactics (and the difference between them).

Gavin Elser’s “Lessons From The Top” looks at the necessity of story-telling to political communication. He argues that every successful political leader (and trust me, a good candidate is a good leader above all else) needs to answer three questions: Who Am I? Who Are We? What’s Our Common Purpose? He discusses how you do this informed by his experience as a journalist observing leaders.

SOMETHING OUTSIDE THE USUAL POLITICAL BOOKSHELF…

In recent years I read a number of sports-related biographies, which you was new to me.  My passions were always history and politics. But I have come to see a huge similarity between candidates I have known and sportspeople I have read about. I think that winning a seat in Parliament as a Lib Dem is comparable in terms of effort, resilience (and a bit of luck) to winning an Olympic medal (and we need to put more support in place to help our people win).

I recommend reading at least one autobiography of someone who has succeeded at the Olympics, World Cup, Premier League, Wimbledon or similar. You could try “Unbelievable” by Jessica Ennis or “Between the Lines” by Victoria Pendleton.

One specific sports related book I am recommending to everyone at the moment is “Leadership” by Sir Alex Ferguson, the former Manchester United manager. It’s a book that is about much more than football. It is really about getting the best out of yourself and others around you – how you inspire others to be the best that they can be, and how you build a team that wins.  It has touching and entertaining stories and inspiring ideas. It reminded me in many places of “Audacity of Hope” and “Dreams of My Father” by Barack Obama.

Happy Easter Everyone!

* Antony Hook was #2 on the South East European list in 2014, is the English Party's representative on the Federal Executive and produces this sites EU Referendum Roundup.