Tag Archives: candidate selections

There was a simpler time, when a Returning Officer turned up, ran a contest between whoever had put their name forward, and the members who had bothered to turn up made the decision. The administration was more onerous, given that things had to be posted to people, and more expensive to Local Parties as a result, but it was at least simple. It wasn’t necessarily fair, or consistent, and more often than not the prize for winner was to come a distant third in the subsequent General Election, so there wasn’t much harm done.

Now, it can be technically more complex, even though technology means that you can send mailings for free in the blink of an eye, and hustings meetings are often held online. A Returning Officer can deal with everything from his own computer at home most of the time. But there are more “moving parts” to deal with.

If you’re not the most technology friendly soul, you need an e-ballot administrator, so that’s one person you have to co-ordinate your diary with. You’ve got a Shortlisting Committee to deal with, possibly made up of members of multiple Local Parties, all of whose Executive Committees not unreasonably want to be kept up to speed with progress.

And, of course, you need answers from authoritative sources, your Regional Candidates Chair and your Regional Campaigns Manager, for example. They’re busy people, and might be waiting for answers themselves.

So, for example, the new English Selection Rules state that any decision regarding positive action must be signed off by either the Party’s Head of Compliance or the Head of Party Services on behalf of the Chief Executive. How do I know that this has happened? I could assume that all is well, but we all know what happens if you assume…