Nothing Better to do on a Saturday?

At least the weather was benign. Shirtsleeves in October can only be looked upon as a bonus.

The Lewisham Central by-election this year was the second time that I had stood as a council candidate, the first time was in Grove Park during the main local government elections in May 2002. Then I was fighting for a target ward and the build-up had been long and hard. Unfortunately I missed by only 60 votes and the number of Conservatives on the council did not increase.

This by-election was a very different beast. All by-elections tend to be short and bloody guerrilla conflicts but the fact that this was an all postal ballot further truncated the amount of time in which we had to work. Normally an election of this kind would mean about a months worth of electioneering but it was felt that once the ballot papers had gone out there would be little that could be gained from further intensive canvassing, this gave us about 2 ½ weeks of real effort.

Before I go into the nuts and bolts of campaigning it is worth mentioning that, like so many things in practical politics, an election of this kind is very much a group effort. The candidate may be the “face” of the campaign but he or she is only a cog in a large machine, without the help of the political agent (a legal requirement) and the people who help with the canvassing, both door to door and over the phone, you would get nowhere. I was lucky in that the team in Lewisham East, while being small in number, are very experienced and very dedicated.But what is actually involved?

The mechanics of an election are fairly straight forward;
1. Get selected by the party.
2. Fill in a small mountain of official paperwork.
3. Get proposed and seconded by members of the ward.
4. Start pumping out positive information about yourself and the party.
5. Be photographed kissing babies.
6. Knock on doors to find out who will support you in the election.
7. Pump out more positive stuff.
8. Kiss more babies.
9. Pump out more stuff.
10. Chase up the people who have said that they will support you to make sure that they do.
11. Don’t forget to vote for yourself.
12. Go to the count and make sure the volunteer counting teams don’t put your votes in someone else’s tray.
13. Leap with joy and make humble but powerful speech of thanks (if you win), sulk (if you don’t)

Despite having to get out and speak to complete strangers on a number of evenings and weekends there is something strangely absorbing about standing as a candidate. Seeing so many people put themselves out to help you, with little or no benefit to themselves is a rather humbling experience. Knowing that in the case of Lewisham Central we had very little realistic chance of winning was in no way a de-motivating factor. I actually enjoyed it.It is a very useful experience and despite the advances in communication technology there is nothing quite like standing in front of an elector and getting their views first hand. Stuffing leaflets through letterboxes can even be a cathartic exercise. Would I do it again? Absolutely! Would I recommend it to others? Absolutely!

James Cleverly AM

Updated 04-09-09

Current roles:
James Cleverly is the London Assembly member for Bexley and Bromley.

He is the Mayor of London's Youth Ambassador and Chairman of the London Assembly's Health and Public Services Committee. He is also a member of the Assembly's Environment Committee and Transport Committee. He is a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, and sits on the Board of the London Development Agency.

Youth Ambassador:
In January 2009 James was appointed by the Mayor to be his Ambassador for Young People. His priorities cover not just tackling the causes of youth crime but also building on the excellent work already being undertaken by the private, public and voluntary sectors to help young people harness their talents and provide them with real opportunities in life.

Health & Public Services Committee:
As Chairman of the committee James has initiated a number of investigations including the first comprehensive assessment of the drinking habit of young Londoners. The committee has also looked into teenage sexual health, support services for older Londoners, the effect of swine flu and MMR rates in London.

Metropolitan Police Authority:
James has been a member of the MPA since May 2008 and sits on the Strategic & Operational Policing Committee, the Counter Terrorism & Protective Services sub-committee and the Professional Standards Cases sub-committee.

London Development Agency:
James is been a member of the LDA board since Sept 2008 and also sits on the Audit, Risk and Performance committee.

As at Sept 2009 James' public remuneration is as follows:
London Assembly - £52,910
Mayor's Youth Ambassador – unpaid
MPA - £9,570
LDA – unpaid

Register of Interests
James' Gifts and Hospitality entries
James' expenses

Conservative Party:

James has been a member of the Conservative party since 1999 and is the Deputy Leader of the London Assembly Conservative group. Before being elected to the London Assembly he was the candidate in local elections in the London Borough of Lewisham, as the parliamentary candidate for the Lewisham East in the 2005 general election and as the Conservative candidate for directly elected Mayor of Lewisham in 2006.

He was elected as the member for the Bexley and Bromley constituency of the London Assembly in May 2008 receiving 105,162 votes (52.6% of the vote) and with a majority of 75,237.

Outside politics:
James is married to Susie and has two sons, Freddy and Rupert. James comes from a background in web and print publishing. He has a business degree from Thames Valley University (TVU) and before being elected was the co-founder of LaunchLab.co.uk a website helping entrepreneurs and small businesses grow and develop.

Volunteering:

For over 15 years James has been an officer in the Territorial Army, rising to the rank of Major, and until 2005 was the Officer Commanding 266 (Para) Battery Royal Artillery (Volunteers).

James is an Honorary President of Bromley District Scouts and is part of the coaching team at the under 8s level for the Old Colfean's Rugby Club.