I was invited to a manifesto meeting. This is because we need to have an agreed manifesto for the Conservative candidates to work from when the election comes, and to implement if elected.
One of my friends commented when I was thinking of seeking selection that my life would become full of boring meetings. That didn’t matter – most of my career has been spent trying to get something useful out of interminable meetings – but I did assume it would only apply if I was elected, rather than beforehand. But apart from my selection meeting it was my first “political” meeting so I was quite excited.
It was at County Hall in Morpeth; it’s the first time I have actually been inside the corridors of power. And there were many, many corridors. They had an interesting selection of pictures. I was particularly struck by a panel of photos of Councillors (and Aldermen) from the mid 1970s. They looked so serious and substantial compared to today’s group (and potential group). Yet the range of their responsibilities was much smaller then. I suppose a similar panel of the new Council will look just as old fashioned in 30 years time for the same reason that I feel much younger than my father when he was my age.
The meeting itself was a bit challenging: I felt sorry for the chair as she tried to control all of us wanting to make valid points about the things we were going to discuss next, or that we had just agreed. For some reason we weren’t good at talking about the things we were talking about at the moment. In the end, however, I think a good framework emerged of practical ideas focussed on helping people. It’s a good job an outline had been drafted by a few people beforehand.
One of my friends commented when I was thinking of seeking selection that my life would become full of boring meetings. That didn’t matter – most of my career has been spent trying to get something useful out of interminable meetings – but I did assume it would only apply if I was elected, rather than beforehand. But apart from my selection meeting it was my first “political” meeting so I was quite excited.
It was at County Hall in Morpeth; it’s the first time I have actually been inside the corridors of power. And there were many, many corridors. They had an interesting selection of pictures. I was particularly struck by a panel of photos of Councillors (and Aldermen) from the mid 1970s. They looked so serious and substantial compared to today’s group (and potential group). Yet the range of their responsibilities was much smaller then. I suppose a similar panel of the new Council will look just as old fashioned in 30 years time for the same reason that I feel much younger than my father when he was my age.
The meeting itself was a bit challenging: I felt sorry for the chair as she tried to control all of us wanting to make valid points about the things we were going to discuss next, or that we had just agreed. For some reason we weren’t good at talking about the things we were talking about at the moment. In the end, however, I think a good framework emerged of practical ideas focussed on helping people. It’s a good job an outline had been drafted by a few people beforehand.
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