Good news from nearby Cambridge where the Cambridge News puts Green candidate Tony Juniper out in front. Read the report here. Good luck Tony!
The same report also says the Green Party is polling strongly across all the consituencies covered by the Cambridge News, which includes.... Huntingdon. Don't believe them when they tell you there's no point voting Green.
Tuesday 27 April 2010
Monday 26 April 2010
Watch again
So, the hustings are done, bring on the next hustings.
Here is a link to a report and some video of the Hunts Post hustings last Thursday (apologies for the late posting).
I don't know how hard it looks from where you're sitting or from the back of the hall but let me tell you, it is pretty nerve racking up there. It is also much harder than you might think to spell out the essential differences between your policies and those of the other candidates when you have just one minute to answer the questions!
Still, I hope I managed to get some points across, and it was good practice for this Thursday when I get to do it all again, with a second hustings at Huntingdon Methodist Church. It all kicks off at 7.30pm and again, it would be great if you were able to come down and hear what we all have to say in person.
Here is a link to a report and some video of the Hunts Post hustings last Thursday (apologies for the late posting).
I don't know how hard it looks from where you're sitting or from the back of the hall but let me tell you, it is pretty nerve racking up there. It is also much harder than you might think to spell out the essential differences between your policies and those of the other candidates when you have just one minute to answer the questions!
Still, I hope I managed to get some points across, and it was good practice for this Thursday when I get to do it all again, with a second hustings at Huntingdon Methodist Church. It all kicks off at 7.30pm and again, it would be great if you were able to come down and hear what we all have to say in person.
Monday 19 April 2010
Hustings latest
Good news! The Hunts Post have relented and have agreed that I and the other candidates excluded from their hustings can now take part.
So, if you want to see me on stage with Mr Djanogly MP and the five others vying for your vote then come on down to the Commemoration Hall in Huntingdon at 7.30pm on Thursday.
Places are limited by the size of the hall but it would be good to have as full a house as possible.
So, if you want to see me on stage with Mr Djanogly MP and the five others vying for your vote then come on down to the Commemoration Hall in Huntingdon at 7.30pm on Thursday.
Places are limited by the size of the hall but it would be good to have as full a house as possible.
Thursday 15 April 2010
Canvassing
I have been out knocking on people's doors.
It's a big job (according to the Royal Mail there are 51,000 doors to knock on in the consituency) and a slow one (you want to talk to people and that takes time). I also work for a living, so sadly there are a lot of doors I won't be able to knock on between now and May 6th.
I am trying to do as much as I can though and what I have been hearing from people is interesting.
Most of the people - no, almost all of the people - I spoke to were genuinely unsure how to vote (they didn't say they wouldn't, although one man shut the door crying: "No, not politics! A thousand times, no!" so he might not bother).
No one really wanted another Labour term but there were more than a few who admitted to being lifelong Conservative voters who wouldn't vote Tory this time.
Many just said they would vote for the least worst. I know that feeling all too well. That's why I'm standing to try and offer a positive choice not a negative one.
Don't decide where to put your cross when you're standing in the polling booth. Don't vote for the least worst. Vote for a fresh approach. Vote for an end to the mad, headlong rush off the edge of the economic and environmental cliff. Vote for hope and sanity. Vote Green and feel good about it. A vote like that could never be a wasted one.
Find out more and read the Green Party manifesto, which launched today.
It's a big job (according to the Royal Mail there are 51,000 doors to knock on in the consituency) and a slow one (you want to talk to people and that takes time). I also work for a living, so sadly there are a lot of doors I won't be able to knock on between now and May 6th.
I am trying to do as much as I can though and what I have been hearing from people is interesting.
Most of the people - no, almost all of the people - I spoke to were genuinely unsure how to vote (they didn't say they wouldn't, although one man shut the door crying: "No, not politics! A thousand times, no!" so he might not bother).
No one really wanted another Labour term but there were more than a few who admitted to being lifelong Conservative voters who wouldn't vote Tory this time.
Many just said they would vote for the least worst. I know that feeling all too well. That's why I'm standing to try and offer a positive choice not a negative one.
Don't decide where to put your cross when you're standing in the polling booth. Don't vote for the least worst. Vote for a fresh approach. Vote for an end to the mad, headlong rush off the edge of the economic and environmental cliff. Vote for hope and sanity. Vote Green and feel good about it. A vote like that could never be a wasted one.
Find out more and read the Green Party manifesto, which launched today.
Fancy a flutter?
Getting some fairly long odds on a Green victory in Hunts!!
It could be worth a punt though - you never know. Down in Brighton the online bookies, Betfair, have just made Green Party leader Caroline Lucas odds on favourite to win the Brighton Pavilion seat.
It could be worth a punt though - you never know. Down in Brighton the online bookies, Betfair, have just made Green Party leader Caroline Lucas odds on favourite to win the Brighton Pavilion seat.
Tuesday 13 April 2010
Electric schemes
One thing I hadn't expected when I took this on was the amount of emails I would get from people keen that their parliamentary candidates should support various causes. I don't know why I didn't expect it, seems perfectly reasonable when you think about it.
The birth of email has made this kind of lobbying so much easier than it must have been in the past and having looked down the growing list of people asking for my support, I have decided that it is a Very Good Thing.
It gives people the power to reach out and tap us candidates on the electronic shoulder whenever they like and ask us directly, "what do you think?"
And it lets me know who is out there - names of real people and the issues they care about, not just some anonymous mass called The Electorate.
I'm all for it so, why not leave a comment or question for me on this blog? You might even start a debate...
The birth of email has made this kind of lobbying so much easier than it must have been in the past and having looked down the growing list of people asking for my support, I have decided that it is a Very Good Thing.
It gives people the power to reach out and tap us candidates on the electronic shoulder whenever they like and ask us directly, "what do you think?"
And it lets me know who is out there - names of real people and the issues they care about, not just some anonymous mass called The Electorate.
I'm all for it so, why not leave a comment or question for me on this blog? You might even start a debate...
Monday 12 April 2010
Voting blocks
While you're here, have a look at the Green Party election video.
You'll also find a good summary of the Party's policies in the same place. I've stuck the link on the right of the page too.
You'll also find a good summary of the Party's policies in the same place. I've stuck the link on the right of the page too.
Hustings news
After a weekend spent trying to fight off a throat infection I'm back online with news that plans are afoot to hold an 'alternative hustings' in Huntingdon on April 22nd.
In my last post I explained how I and most of the other candidates at the election had been left off the invite list for the Hunts Post's hustings on the same day.
Details are still being worked out, but it look like there will be a choice on April 22nd: either go and watch the three old parties dust off the script they've been reading from since the 1950s or come to the alternative hustings and hear some new ideas.
Watch this space...
In my last post I explained how I and most of the other candidates at the election had been left off the invite list for the Hunts Post's hustings on the same day.
Details are still being worked out, but it look like there will be a choice on April 22nd: either go and watch the three old parties dust off the script they've been reading from since the 1950s or come to the alternative hustings and hear some new ideas.
Watch this space...
Thursday 8 April 2010
Out in the cold
There is to be a General Election hustings in Huntingdon, courtesy of the Hunts Post.
This can only be a good thing, right? As the paper's editor says: "This will be your chance to hear what the candidates have to say on major issues that affect the Huntingdon constituency and the policies, such as public spending, that will be shaping the future of the country."
Sadly,the audience will only get to hear what the three 'main parties' have to say. The other four candidates standing in the election, including yours truly, are not invited.
The same paper has published a story from the Electoral Reform Society, which says Cambridgeshire's seats are all 'dead certs' - safe seats where voting will make no difference to the outcome.
That is a depressing thought and it can't help when one of the very few opportunities for people to meet the candidates excludes the majority of those standing. Democracy is about choice. Surely people need to hear from all the candidates if their choice is to be an informed one?
Still, as I said before, I'm not taking anything for granted - not the people of Huntingdon and not the result of this election. Wouldn't it be nice if we were able to prove the Electoral Reform Society wrong...
This can only be a good thing, right? As the paper's editor says: "This will be your chance to hear what the candidates have to say on major issues that affect the Huntingdon constituency and the policies, such as public spending, that will be shaping the future of the country."
Sadly,the audience will only get to hear what the three 'main parties' have to say. The other four candidates standing in the election, including yours truly, are not invited.
The same paper has published a story from the Electoral Reform Society, which says Cambridgeshire's seats are all 'dead certs' - safe seats where voting will make no difference to the outcome.
That is a depressing thought and it can't help when one of the very few opportunities for people to meet the candidates excludes the majority of those standing. Democracy is about choice. Surely people need to hear from all the candidates if their choice is to be an informed one?
Still, as I said before, I'm not taking anything for granted - not the people of Huntingdon and not the result of this election. Wouldn't it be nice if we were able to prove the Electoral Reform Society wrong...
Standing up
Hello.
My name is John Clare and I have just been chosen as the Green Party's General Election candidate in Huntingdon.
This is my first time standing in a General Election (it's not something you do every day) and I wanted to write this blog as a way of sharing the experience and maybe persuade some of you to vote for me on May 6th.
To set the scene, Huntindgon is about as safe as Tory seat as it is possible to get. You can see what a whacking majority the current MP has HERE. I covered the last election count as a reporter and remember the tables in the leisure centre growing under the weight of Tory ballots.
So, a bit of a hill to climb then. More than one person has asked why I'm bothering. Well, I'm not taking the result for granted. In fact, I think the whole constituency and everyone in it has been taken for granted for too long.
That's why I'm standing. I want people to have a proper choice when they come to cast their vote. So let's see what happens in the next fourweeks shall we? Should be fun...
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