A flavour of life as a PPC

It is a week since my blog about our disappointing visit to the Hampton Court Flower Show. If you wondered what a parliamentary candidate does to fill his time let make give you a flavour…

Louise and I attended the Executive meeting of the local Conservative Association in Iwade. The Executive is the most important body in the Association and is responsible for keeping it financially solvent and fighting fit.

I visited the Kent Science Park to tour a couple of the science based companies that operate from the site and the KSP Resource Centre which offers a foundation degree course for laboratory technicians accredited by the University of Kent. I was appalled to learn that the course is not fully subscribed and will do what I can to increase the take up of places.

I was invited to attend a meeting of the steering group from Tunstall Primary School which is trying to raise funds to enable a relocation of the school. It was the sort of meeting I like. I was joined at he meeting by Cllr Alan Willicombe and James Speck, from Kent Science Park, and we sat in the most wonderful English garden discussing the issues. In addition we were wined and dined by the committee members! Very congenial! I have promised to help in any way I can and have already requested a meeting with education officers from the Diocese of Canterbury.

I had a couple of meetings with the organisers of the Halfway Play Group in an effort to resolve problems arising from their hire agreement with the Halfway Conservative Hall trustees, of whom I am one. A tricky situation which hopefully is now resolved!

On Friday we had a General Election campaign meeting at which we reconsidered our strategy following the announcement that our local MP, Derek Wyatt, has decided not to contest the seat at the next election. We eventually decided that our strategy should be exactly the same whomsoever the Labour Party selects as its candidate. In essence we carry on working as hard as we have been and don’t let up until 10 pm on Polling Day, whenever that might be!

Yesterday Louise and I visited the Cantiana Arts Festival at Lynsted Church and helped organise the judging of this year’s Litter Angels poster competition. We were able to catch up with our friends Colin Barnard (a talented sculptor) and Sioux Peto (an equally talented artist who uses found objects to create abstract assemblages and highlights her concerns about the environment).

The photos opposite show (top) some of the entries in the poster competition; (middle) a work that Sioux made from builders plastic fencing; (bottom) Lou with two more assemblages made from discarded beer cans.

We have also resumed our survey canvass exercise, which was postponed during the KCC and Euro elections, and have been busy putting out surveys in Bredgar, Milsted, Minster Cliffs and Rodmersham.

Tomorrow the survey canvass exercise takes a back seat because I am taking a car load of local activists to Norwich North to help out in the bye election. More of that later!