Monday, July 16, 2007
Back from Ealing, with a sore feeling
So I am back from campaigning in Ealing Southall. It was a fantastic sight to see the whole constituency festooned with posters from all parties, and the entire community seemingly caught up in the election buzz. If only people were so enthused by politics the rest of the time!
It was like a street carnival with all the leafleters and stake-boards and posters everywhere. I met our candidate Nigel Bakhai, and joined the throng of helpers at our campaign HQ. There was plenty of leafleting to be done, which is handy because I seem to have developed quite a liking for it in recent months, and it was great to be back out on the campaign trail - I miss it since May! Being outdoors also seemed to re-awaken the sun, which has been noticeably absent since the election. Maybe there is some correlation between me campaigning and the sun shining... Or maybe the activities of a lone back-bench Bury Councillor have no bearing on celestial bodies... Who knows?
I was out for a good few hours around Southall with Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, the leader of Portsmouth City Council, and we delivered many hundreds of leaflets before treating ourselves to a well-deserved Ribena. The reputation of the Lib Dems as the party of the hard-drinker was re-enforced when I necked my bottle of raspberry and pomegranate Ribena in double quick time. But I can handle it.
It was good to play my (small) part in what will hopefully be a successful campaign - we shall see the result on Thursday evening! And if the Tory candidate loses, at least he can take comfort in the fact that he only wasted three weeks of his life as a Conservative party member, and can go back to his millionaire lifestyle dining with former Labour Prime Ministers!
After the leafleting I met up with some friends for dinner in Camden, before staying at a friend's house. The combination of strange bed and leaflet-weary body must have made for an odd sleeping position, because I woke up with a twinge in my back which has subsequently developed into a completely dibilitating agony. This morning I could barely dress myself, and getting out of my chair at work almost requires me to slide to the floor and clamber up the walls again, rather than put any pressure on my back.
This concerns me as a 26 year old, I have to say.
Hopefully I will be better for tonight's meetings.
Rick
It was like a street carnival with all the leafleters and stake-boards and posters everywhere. I met our candidate Nigel Bakhai, and joined the throng of helpers at our campaign HQ. There was plenty of leafleting to be done, which is handy because I seem to have developed quite a liking for it in recent months, and it was great to be back out on the campaign trail - I miss it since May! Being outdoors also seemed to re-awaken the sun, which has been noticeably absent since the election. Maybe there is some correlation between me campaigning and the sun shining... Or maybe the activities of a lone back-bench Bury Councillor have no bearing on celestial bodies... Who knows?
I was out for a good few hours around Southall with Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, the leader of Portsmouth City Council, and we delivered many hundreds of leaflets before treating ourselves to a well-deserved Ribena. The reputation of the Lib Dems as the party of the hard-drinker was re-enforced when I necked my bottle of raspberry and pomegranate Ribena in double quick time. But I can handle it.
It was good to play my (small) part in what will hopefully be a successful campaign - we shall see the result on Thursday evening! And if the Tory candidate loses, at least he can take comfort in the fact that he only wasted three weeks of his life as a Conservative party member, and can go back to his millionaire lifestyle dining with former Labour Prime Ministers!
After the leafleting I met up with some friends for dinner in Camden, before staying at a friend's house. The combination of strange bed and leaflet-weary body must have made for an odd sleeping position, because I woke up with a twinge in my back which has subsequently developed into a completely dibilitating agony. This morning I could barely dress myself, and getting out of my chair at work almost requires me to slide to the floor and clamber up the walls again, rather than put any pressure on my back.
This concerns me as a 26 year old, I have to say.
Hopefully I will be better for tonight's meetings.
Rick
# posted by Richard Baum @ 12:41 
