Tag Archives: liberal democrat

Being a PPC: building your team

Following last week’s blog on managing my work/life balance as a PPC, I’m writing this week on building a team in a constituency.

I have some expertise in working with volunteers – in the past, I chaired the Parent Teacher Association at my child’s secondary school. Leading a group of volunteers, who each had different amounts of time to give and various reasons for giving that time, was a challenge. Nothing like playground politics among parents!

A team in a local party can be similar – everyone is a volunteer, some with masses of time to give, others with very little time. All are motivated, but have a range of issues behind that motivation. Inspiring your volunteers is a balance between accepting what time they can offer and not asking too much, and learning more about them and why they would like to be involved.

In many constituencies, we run skills audits, finding out what talents people have to offer to pair with what jobs need to be done. I think it is really important to ask what people want to do. It could be they are highly skilled in one area, but that is their day job, and what they really want to do as a volunteer is something different. Having those discussions is important. Allowing people to give time on their terms and in the way they wish is key.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 3 Comments

Still making your mind up how to vote…this might help

Enjoy

Posted in News | Also tagged | 4 Comments

Champagne corks popping at party HQ?

Champagne cork popping photo by Brent SchneemanTim Farron was on Radio Four’s Today yesterday morning. He was talking about Norman Baker’s resignation. In passing, when interviewer John Humphrys mentioned the party potentially losing lots of MPs at the next election, Tim mentioned that the Lib Dems went up by three percentage points in this week’s Lord Ashcroft poll.

When Humphrys said he would mention that this was just one optimistic poll for the party amidst many pessimistic polls, Tim joked that “at party HQ they might not hear you above the sound of champagne corks popping”.

Posted in Polls | Also tagged and | 15 Comments

Opinion: It wasn’t in anybody’s manifesto, was it?

I haven’t read the Health and Social Care Bill (soon to be Act). More pages than a Harry Potter novel, and qualified by a thousand amendments, I’m not sure reading it would throw much light on my darkness. However, there are aspects of the bill I am aware of.

I know, for instance, that the NHS Bill was in no one’s manifesto, and I know there wasn’t the slightest hint of its major elements in the coalition agreement. The government has absolutely no mandate for NHS reform at all. It all seemed so clear … and then I made a foolish …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 23 Comments
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    "The policy and the Liberal Democrat outlook is for the improvement of the UK’s economic, social and geopolitical well being and absolutely ‘tackle the issu...
  • Martin
    Martin Gray: The Party's constitution and policy adopted at the Spring conference a year ago do mark the Liberal Democrats as 'a rejoin party'. In fact there ...
  • David Raw
    @Martin Gray, "Seeing as we’re not a rejoin party". I wouldn't be so sure about that, Mr Gray, but if that's the settled view of the party establishment, t...
  • George Thomas
    It's a bit pathetic that on the same day that leader of Welsh Lib Dems is, correctly, pointing out that Westminster government is telling Wales "you don't matte...
  • George Thomas
    P.S. because we all know that Wales isn't going to get the estimated £4.55-£6 billion worth of funding back regardless of whether Tories stay in power or Labo...