Lib Dem Voice has received a couple of e-mails from seats in England who are worried they may miss out on ‘target’ status in the next General Election, as they are unable to select candidates by the end of this year due to a lack of trained officials.
I’m conducting a mini-investigation to identify the scale of the problem. If you’re in a seat (target or not) that is having difficulty selecting a candidate due to a shortage of trained selection committee members, Returning Officers, or any other post, please e-mail me.
Equally, if there are other issues holding up your selection process, please do get in touch.
Please give me brief details of the problems you’re experiencing, and remember to include the constituency name. Any supporting evidence you have that can be e-mailed will also be gratefully received.
EDIT: Just popping this back up at the top of the site for a while as the e-mails are slowly dripping in…
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12 Comments
No doubte some hard working Regional Candidates Chairs will be rather annoyed to hear that. For example one RCC travelled a not inconsiderable distance within a large Region, after a day at work, to run some training for selection committees in an asparent target seat. Instead of the promised 10 attendees only 3 turned up.
Indeed 🙂 I was very careful not to apportion blame in my call for info!
Sadly, it’s true. Some Regions are rather short of Returning Officers, especially as the job gets harder and harder.
I’m helping out outside my Region, by taking on two selections (due to advertise in the coming month) that will involve me travelling not just to a neighbouring county, but the one beyond that, both seats in which we scored 27%+. And I could have done more, had I been able to fit them in…
Could you possibly drop me an e-mail outlining how the job is getting harder?
Cheers,
R
If the local party pushes for the selection, then it seems most barriers can be overcome. I know that at least 2 B’ham seats should be advertising shortly, and have gone through the selection committee training etc.
Now all we’ll need is some applicants…
Wish I could concur Radders, we’ve been pushing for months…
Which region are you in, Steve?
South Central (Wycombe Constituency)
Steve,
Just so that you know, South Central Region’s Candidates Chair has emigrated to Cyprus and the acting replacement, Ken Cosslett, is doing a great deal to progress matters. However, he has to prioritise those seats aiming for Moving Forward status. I’ve stepped in to do two of them (watch this space for adverts) and would do Wycombe if I had the time. But I don’t… sorry about that…
This is really disappointing.
An early selection is really important. As soon as a constituency judge that they are ready, they should go ahead and not be held back by a lack of ROs.
We don’t have this problem in my Region (SE) but if we did I would say, as a short term measure, hire someone suitable to act as a temporary RO. A daily rate, of say £150, is a small price for losing out on months without a candidate.
In addition, the selection process could be slimmed down and shortened, but that’s another topic.
Antony,
Nice thought, but you do have this problem in your Region, which might explain why this South Londoner will be in darkest Kent on Thursday night… although if you’re seriously offering £150 per day, I fear that you don’t really get what ROs do, or why, and that I’m in the wrong job…
Mark,
Like I said, we don’t have a problem, we have very kind volunteers like you!
If target seat selections really are being held back for want of a volunteer RO, that really shouldn’t be an insoluble problem. Ask more people to give up their time, and if they won’t buy someone’s time.
We’re spending £250,000+ on target seat campaigns. I think a small amount spent on an experienced RO (someone like you) who gets it right without excessive acrimony and laborious appeals arising, is probably worth every penny.
We’re both in the wrong jobs.
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[…] By far the biggest challenge however, is deciding what to publish and what not to publish. One of the reasons I set up Lib Dem Voice is that the party is just great at sweeping problems under the carpet, muttering about them for a decade and pretending to each other that they aren’t there. Frankly I want the party to bring some of this stuff out, cast light on it, and get it dealt with. We can fix this stuff if we talk to each other and exhibit more trust and mutual respect than has historically been the case. […]