Any other General Election candidates here? Thread to share experiences.

[CandidateX]

Any one else standing for election here? Serious candidate or not! I would say I am between those two categories, serious about my policies, but no serious chance of election.

Surprises so far have been election agent turning up at 5.45 with list of online training I need to do, and also, finding "standing for election" in the drop down list of reasons to apply for leave in the HR webpage at work!

And the nice surprise was it was in the "paid leave" list!

It would be nice to know how other are feeling, and doing.

Lets not mention politics!!!

Or anyone who has stood for election in the past who would like to say what it was like for them?

well, what happens next is so many emails I don't know where to start, and calendar filling up so fast with TEAM meetings that my pen is running our scribbling them all in....

When did you decide to do this? Good luck.

Are you standing as an independent?

Not standing at all but interested in the process 😅 do work have a set limit of paid leave? Assuming full pay as its only 6 wks?

Also what things fill the calendar apart from doorstepping/being out and about?

Sorry, I'm not a candidate and am butting on on your thread, but why are you standing if you have no chance of winning? I'm genuinely interested as it's a lot of work!

Ooh good luck! I also wonder why anyone would stand if they thought they had no chance of winning but that is presumably the case for a large chunk of candidates. Most, in fact.

I'm not standing but I'm on a local party executive. Usually the parties play a long game and want to establish themselves in a constituency and build up over time even if they know they won't win. Theory being that giving their supporters the opportunity to vote for the party helps to build up a momentum to take into future elections.

Yes, this, largely - any vote for our policies is noted by the winners, and often the winning party will amend some of their policies in line with where they saw votes go in their constituency. That is one reason. Building up a profile and getting known is another, so that there is more chance of an election win further down the line. Also, getting seen being active in a general election helps boost the votes in local elections too.

I don't know what the limit is for paid leave from work! I need to find out.

As to what fills the calendar....

so far - paperwork, downloading, printing reading signing a 12 page declaration, and taking it to where it needs to go, ( 15 signatures in all) online training about security, online training about legalities, online training about funding, meetings being told what we are NOT allowed to comment on, meetings inputting into the local and national manifesto, photocalls, media training, (there are strict rules to follow), fundraising, practice hustings, real hustings - that's it at the moment I think. There will be delivering leaflets and knocking on doors, and attending local events, etc, but not this week.

so, for people who are interested, today was a film crew arriving in my kitchen, followed by an interview with party members in one part of the city followed by a visit to a photography studio two hours away in a different part of the city, followed by a fund raising committee, followed by a load of emails to answer, and social media posts to make!

Today has all been paperwork, signatures, witnesses to signatures, running all over the shop with pieces of paper for people to sign, agents, proposers, seconders, witnesses, etc.

so now I have had all my paper work complete, written I don't know how many paragraphs about myself, each department of the party wants something slightly different. I have received official notification that I am on the ballet paper, I have attended 4 photoshoots, two alone and two with other members. I have written the leaflets for mail shots, and for handing out in the street and when going door to door- and I have been to two mock hustings, where other party members act the role of hostile questioners.

Thank you for your posts - it's an interesting 'back stage' view

Do you get an 'allowance' for copying, travel etc?

Do you ever canvas alone, or is it best practice to have people with you?

Do you find the deposit out of your own pocket, or is it covered by your party?

The deposit is covered by the party - you can reclaim money from the party for expenses, but it is very tightly controlled, and every single penny has to be accounted for. You are very limited in what you can spend

since my last update, I have been attending meetings and hustings and canvassing. The meetings have been quite intense, training about what you can and cannot say, and things like that. Some training on antisemitism and islamophobia. Some training on use of social media. the hustings were quite tame. You get 2 minutes to answer a question, and most of the time you just answer from your knowledge of the manifesto. All the candidates and parties were perfectly nice and friendly to each other - some of the questioners were angry but, you just answer calmly, and sympathetically, and say your piece. There was no drama. The only drama I have had was one young person in one public meeting - not a hustings, who was in a very upsetting situation, and was very distressed, and we didn't have anything constructive to help her there and then, and she obviously felt very let down, and it was really sad.