How do you become an MP?
MP also stands for Military Precision, so it’s no surprise that Paddy Ashdown’s campaign to become MP for Yeovil was long on discipline and short on creature comforts.
The Guardian Politics Blog reviews Ashdown’s autobiography A Fortunate Life, or at least chapter 10 of it:
If you want to become MP you should get a safe seat. But if that doesn’t happen, and your only option is to campaign in a constituency where your party doesn’t seem to have much chance of winning, then you should definitely take some inspiration from the remarkable story in chapter 10 of Paddy Ashdown’s autobiography, A Fortunate Life.
Ashdown was enjoying a successful career as a diplomat (and spy) when, in the mid-1970s, he was afflicted by the desire to become an MP. Nothing particularly unusual about that. But Ashdown wanted to be a Liberal MP, and he wanted to represent Yeovil, a seat where the Liberals were third in the October 1974 election, more than 7,000 votes behind the Tories, who had held the constituency for most of the 20th century. Any normal aspiring MP would have given it a wide berth. But Ashdown gave up his Geneva-based job, moved to Yeovil in 1976 and set to work. He was eventually elected to the Commons in 1983. Chapter 10, which describes how he got there, is the longest chapter in his book and the best description of a successful grassroots campaign I’ve read in any British political biography.
How did he do it? See here for the Guardian’s précis (including the roles of technology, rhubarb wine and “Clarissa”); you can also order the book here.
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8 Comments
How sad is that.
That is a twenty year old recipe book. It is about how he achieved it then, without exposing too much.
Parliamentary candidates today have to disclose their attitude on national issues. Openness is good.
‘He was so worried about being sued that he put his assets into his wife’s name.’
I suppose this just confirms so much about his character,did Ashdown ever achieve anything?
Read the book JIm, after he insisted on visiting a ‘Serb prison camp’ the killings stopped. Getting into the SBS and MI6, not too easy. I’d say he achieved a lot in his life.
Now Jim, where is the list of anti- gay MEPs in the Euro Liberal group?
If I was to take just 3 things out of my reading of Paddy Ashdown`s `A Fortunate Life’ from his consummate autobiography that will inspire leadership skills into countless generations of young Liberal Democrats throughout an Age and beyond.
1.Paddy Ashdown`s leadership of the Liberal Democrats was totally infusing and transformed the thinking of liberal government into the hearts and minds of many new households across Britain.
`Cometh the Hour-Commeth the Man’-the script was written for Paddy Ashdown, in 1988.
2.Paddy Ashdown`s Liberalism stemmed clearly from his father`s life,19 years as a serving soldier and a personal attitude that was determined to model his life on a classless all embracing Liberalism, where all people are valued and important and their contribution to community not based on birth or wealth or any accident of history.
3.It appears from the book that Paddy Ashdown was as resolute in his determination to serve as Special British Envoy in Afghanistan as he had been so effective in bringing a new perspective and peace and ethnic relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The fact that he was finally not summoned by dint of President Karsi changing his mind -led to Jane Ashdown putting up a picture of Karsi on their fridge.
Paddy Ashdown is by far the greatest public servant of humanity and Liberal Democracy and love of Country,that as so far been seen and understood in a modern Britain and troubled World.
I’m not sure I’d go quite that far, Patrick, but the fact that we have 10 times more MPs that when the Tories last took power from a shambolic Labour govt in 1979 is in no small measure down to him. We have since struggled to emulate his ‘great leap forward’ of ’97, to 46 MPs. But the Tories will now struggle to get an overall majority. Thank goodness.
There seems to be some kind of private argument going on at the start of these comments?