It's been a strange old fortnight.
If anyone had asked me fourteen days ago if I had any plans to go into politics, I would have said no. But then, having spent the last few years getting my degree, getting married and starting a family, my mind has been on things other than the state of the nation. Having said that, it's not as if I have deliberately ignored politics, far from it, I simply haven't engaged in many frank discussions over recent years. This is not deliberate, very few of my friends are a-political, the subject simply rarely comes up.
This changed last year during the run up to the european and local elections. I became aware through a number of friends that there was a rise in far right politics in Preston, something which worried me greatly. I started to notice the increase in badly spelt racist graffitti, and then the leaflets started coming through the door.
Now, I understand the need for candidates to canvas during the run up to an election, which obviously means distributing literature which supports your campaign. I also accept that, for example, a party political pamphlet might use a quote or fact out of context in order to grab attention so you read further, or make a point. I draw the line however, at attempts to feed me lies, slander and incitement.
I got a little angry. Then I felt frustrated, I had no way of fighting this other than voting, and trying to persuade others to vote. This didn't seem like enough. I needed to channel my frustration, so I deceided to organise an event for Love Music Hate Racism called 'Love Dubstep, Hate Racism' which was moderately successful, and there are plans to do more events in the same name. At the same time as this I started to attend anti-BNP rallies.
I suppose this is when my firend Liam (Pennington, LibDem candidate for Riversway) realised that I might be politically inclined, and we became closer, having only really been passing acquaintances before this point, and I started to discuss politics with my friends more.
The elections came and went. I was largely pleased with the result (I was especially pleased for Liam who got his best ever result), but if I am honest, other than being more actively interested politics than I have since my late teens, not a great deal had changed. Then, two weeks ago Liam mentioned to me that the Liberal Democrats were without a candidate for University Ward, and would I consider sanding as a paper candidate?
My immediate respons to this question was 'If I stand, it won't be as a paper candidate, I'll do it properly, otherwise there's no point.' So, I went away and thought, hard. Firstly I discussed it with my wife, we don't always agree on politics, and so it as important to me to have her support, but she didn't hesitate for a second. Secondly, I had a long talk with my Dad. Both of my parents were invlolved with the SDP and Liberal Party from the beginning of the eighties up until the formation of the Liberal Democrats in 1988. Dad stood a number of times in local elections and canvassed for Shirley Williams, so his experience and embarrassing stories about me apparenly being sick on Cyril Smith when I was very small have had a large part in the process of making my decision.
And so, here I am. A fully paid up member of the Liberal Democrat Party, and as soon as my membership number arrives, I shall be officially listed as a prospective candidate for University Ward in the 2010 local election.
Fingers crossed.
