Last week I wrote about the three reasons you should go to Oldham for your own good. I said:
If you’re looking for ways to invigorate your campaigning locally, a busy by-election is the place to be. The most up to date campaigning tricks and techniques will be there for you to see. Also you might learn about things as simple as ways to organise your delivery rounds or canvassing. If you’re in the office doing clerical work, learn from how it’s managed. You can pick up tips on all aspects of running an election that you can develop and use back home.
You would hope that it would be shining Lib Dem examples of brilliance that you would learn from but the other parties can teach you stuff too. There was one Scottish by-election where a former Lib Dem parliamentarian was seen shinning up a lamppost at dead of night to nab an SNP poster which, he declared, was brilliant in its simplicity and effectiveness. Well, he may not have put it quite like that, but you get the drift.
If you are the only Lib Dem in your village, used to leafletting with only your dog for company, it can be really invigorating to be part of a big group going and covering loads of ground really quickly.
There now appears to be a fourth reason – self preservation. Paddy will be after you if you don’t.
I think he’s joking….
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
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18 Comments
Did Paddy help at the Crewe & Nantwich byelection?
If anyone fancies a warm-up we’ve a crucial county by-election defence in Epsom this Thursday, just 20 minutes by train from Wimbledon, 30 mins from Claphsm Junction, 40 mins from Waterloo/Victoria::
http://www.flocktogether.org.uk/event/10122
http://juliemorris.mycouncillor.org.uk
Good luck, Paul. Who is your candidate.
I find the whole ‘Paddy will be after you’ line really, really annoying, and so did my wife when his disembodied recorded voice kept robo-calling during the election to drive me into action. It didn’t do anything to make her vote LibDem, either. If anything it made it less likely than it already was.
Respected statesman, intelligent man, charismatic speaker etc that he is, is there no-one else in the party we are expected to listen to? It’s becoming a cliché and maybe even a sign of internal panic.
Why does he represent some sort of clarion call to arms (argh, military metaphors, another Paddy cliché), is it just nostalgia or is he a revered infallible genius many members of the party would genuinely throw themselves in front of a bus for? There are many of us who joined the party well after he stopped leading it 16 years ago.
Sorry, rant over.
I do respect him, really, but it’s just so, so … er … bludgeoningly repetitive and predictable.
It wasn’t THAT late in the evening!
I agree with Matt … and so does my wife!
…if I had a wife she would agree as well!
Paddy is hugely respected for all he has done in the past, but the GE campaign that he led was a disasater and we really need fresh thinking to move us forward from that terrible position.
I agree with John Kiely also.
In addition to Paddy Ashdown’s involvement in the general election campaign and strategy, each time he speaks, Ashdown’s ill judged attack on Tim Farron’s own judgment is not far away from my thoughts.
Someone needs to ask themselves if Paddy Ashdown enjoys a standing in the party he once did.
I think this was a light hearted approach to a serious issue – it seems to be a thing these days to disparage anything done by anybody – liberalism is the opposite of cynicism. Accept it for what it is and get to Oldham. And yes I do respect Paddy still – one of the best. And so did my wife….. is this what we have come to? Would be far better if you could try and persuade your wife to go to Oldham
Wow, send for the ‘Special Boats”. Looking at the setting, I’m wondering whether he had slightly over indulged before he was filmed. Or is that hat still repeating on him?
Caron,
I am wheelchair bound as are many other activists in the party including the president herself. I rang up the Oldham office to volunteer only to find that it is inaccessible for wheelchairs.
By having a wheelchair inaccessible office they are excluding, through no fault of their own, a number of activists from helping.
How can this be rectified for future by-elections?
My question (did Paddy help at C&N?) remains unanswered …
Richard, they are also excluding a number of electors from coming in to ask questions
Richard: That is unfortunate. I’ll certainly ask questions about that.
Are you able to help in other ways, e.g. calling from home? That would be invaluable to the team there.
Caron,
That is probably what I’ll end up doing. The party though needs to think very carefully about wheelchair access for future by-elections. After all, we can’t preach about equality and at the first available opportunity fail our own test because by-election premises are not wheelchair accessible. Disabled activists need to experience the atmosphere of a by-election as well.
Erm, well, David and others – my tone was more narked above than I meant it to be, but the robo-calling did feel quite invasive. In-jokes about Lord Ashdown’s military career and commanding manner are all very well for ‘insiders’, but they are rather hoary and tired and over-used.
Some of us relatively recently just got ‘in’ to the party and are bemused and left cold by them.
Thanks, Stephen – although I don’t want to be slinging mud at Paddy’s leadership of the campaign, that’s not something I’m entirely qualified to judge on. Lazy, continual usage of him as a figurehead and internal ‘icon’ for day-to-day local campaigning is more what I’m annoyed at.
Anyway, after I posted earlier in the thread on Friday night I went and turned the radio on and discovered there were considerably more scary and important things happening in the world than my peeves about LibDem communication strategies.
And I hope Lord Ashdown is able to use his considerable insight and authority to engage mightily in the debate on those matters to preserve the values of liberal democratic government at a time when they are again ( in part naturally) going to be attacked from all sides for all kind of reasons.
He’s extremely good at that, and I think there can be little argument from all of us on that point.
Is this the same Paddy who promised to eat his hat on election night ?
david 14th Nov ’15 – 10:26am
David, I do accept much of what you say and the reason for the tone of my own comments are again spookily similar to those of Matt (Bristol) 16th Nov ’15 – 3:27pm “… In-jokes about Lord Ashdown’s military career and commanding manner are all very well for ‘insiders’, but they are rather hoary and tired and over-used.” along with “Lazy, continual usage of him as a figurehead and internal ‘icon’ for day-to-day local campaigning is more what I’m annoyed at.” Absolutely spot on Matt.
Sorry LDV team but the elevation of certain party bigwigs (or should that be big Whigs?) to hero status is a style/technique you do use and is one that may not sit especially comfortably with a number of us.
Matt and David, regarding my previous post, I do however stand by my stated disappointed regarding the nature and tone of Paddy Ashdown’s personal intervention during the leadership campaign.