My campaign in Ely & East Cambridgeshire launched amid a heady blend of untamed Loony optimism and polite bafflement from electors with the rallying cry ‘A new candidate for a new constituency and a total change from everything that hasn’t gone before!’
Living opposite a village pub, nominations were collected in double-quick time with papers filed on 6 June. East Cambs Council elections team were extremely supportive and very patient as I showered them with questions on everything from whether beer mats in a pub constitute promotional materials, to which caption a yellow rubber duck’s ‘expenses’ go into.
Canvassing as a Loony is different. While other candidates faced doorstep aggro, I received approval for standing, smiles, laughter, widespread agreement with our Manicfesto (along with a promise to plant 68 million magic money trees to pay for it all) and general reassurance that people wouldn’t be voting for me!
Highlights of the campaign? An excited 17 year old politics student telling me I was his very first ‘real’ parliamentary candidate and that he’d written a paper on the importance of the OMRLP; people actually understanding what we actually stand for; the many memories of Screaming Lord Such (lots of rock fans of a certain age!); finding Loony enclaves all-round the constituency; and, as our Hustings came to a close, being handed a note by our Chairman (a very eminent ex-Cabinet Secretary) that read ‘Guess who will get the last word?’
Oh, and unseating a, now former, Cabinet minister – without a recount, despite the 495 majority. How did I do? Well, with 271 votes I came 6th of 9 candidates even beating the SDP into 7th place!
Thanks to my amazing local Loony supporters without whom I might have had a nice quiet time of it, those nationally and internationally who provided encouragement and particularly to The Incredible Flying Brick, Chinners, the Baron and of course Our Inspirational & Glorious Leader, Alan along with everyone at LoonyHQ for distributing rosettes, badges, guidance and confusion. Will I do it again next time? You bet!
See you all at Conference.
Hoo-Ray Henry
