Tomorrow is the by-election in Old Bracknell. Please vote!

I have blogged about the old Bracknell by-election I am standing in a by election for Old Bracknell and My leaflet for Old Bracknell and review‏. 

I am currently suffering from  man flu which as you know is proven to not be a myth and is very macho. But its also not helpful to be ill during a campaign.

I will be standing outside both the polling stations telling, feel free to say hello;

I'm at The Rectory Lane, Community Centre from 7am to 11am and again from 6pm to 10pm

I will be at the Baptist Church, South Hill Road at 11am to noon and again from 2pm to 6pm.

I wish all the candidates luck and I will report on the result as soon as possible.

I would not expect the turnout to be very high for a parish council election and I think these tweets I did refect that fact. I of course hope this is not the case. I thought I would share it with my blog readers.

Tweet 1: Yesterday I delivered my last leaflet for Old Bracknell election or tried to. The lady gave it back to me saying that she doesn't care.

Tweet 2: So I said to her do you care about how much council tax you pay or the services you get, she said no.

Tweet 3: Should I inform the council that this lady does need any services and ask them to increase her council tax after all she doesn't care?


I think its important to vote because the decision made by your elected representatives does make a difference to your life and what elected official does may or may not be inline with your principals. So if you do live in Old Bracknell please do take an interest and vote on who you want to be working for you and representing you.

My leaflet for Old Bracknell and review‏

Below is a copy of my leaflet to get myself elected as a Town Councillor for the Old Bracknell ward.

I also include the original words I wrote which didn't all fit onto the leaflet just so you can get an idea of how political leaflets may be edited.


Why I am Standing for you

I am standing because I believe in the good work of the Town Council and because I would like to go on and represent the people of Bracknell at the Borough council in the May 2011 local elections. I am a user of the local Parks and also believe in youth work as my family when they lived in Crowthorne used to run the Ravenswood youth centre. I understand youth issues as I myself was a badly behaved as a teenager and because of this had to retake my GCSE at college.

My father in law also died of alcohol related problems so I can relate to alcohol and drug abuse. I have been involved in the local campaigns to keep Heatherwood Hospital open and the Look In Cafe through my links with campaigners on the Bracknell Blog (bracknellblog.blogspot.com/) I want to do all I can to make a difference and do what's right at a local level for Bracknell as this is my home and I believe my home could be even better.


As you can see from the above the part about my father was removed, this was changed to a close relative and then removed as there was not enough room and perhaps going on about myself is not appropriate.


About me

I have lived in or near Bracknell for most of my life (also lived in Crowthorne). I went to Great Holland's school and was brought up in Great Holland's until I moved to Crowthorne with my parents attending Edgbarrow School. I later attended Bracknell and Wokingham College where I studied a National Diploma in Computer Studies.

I worked in Bracknell when I left College but was later made redundant during the recession in the early 90's. After a period of looking for a job I found work outside of the Bracknell area having to commute to work within the M25. When I left home I moved to Farnborough but again worked In Bracknell. I now live in Bracknell again in a one bedroom flat near the town centre where I have lived for several years. I how work as an Accountant near Maidenhead.


Again I did go on to much here for example there is no point in me writing phases such as 'After a period of looking for a job '.


Why Im standing for the Liberal Democrats

I joined the Liberal Democrats not because I thought this was the best way to get into some kind of power (if that was the case I would of joined the conservative or Labour Party) but because I believe in the Principals of the party of Open Government and society, Fairness for Families and community, making work pay to reduce benefits and in Liberal values which really protect the citizens of Britain.

I also believe that at a local level we need members of other parties in the Council to provide additional voices. I am also not a party robot and will stick up for people locally and also will not simply dismiss the good ideas that members of other parties may have in order to hold a party line. The Liberal Democrats give me that flexibility.


I'm pleased with this paragraph which is why its not required too many been changes. I could of added a whole bunch of things about national policy but I didn't because these are not really relevant to a council election. Although these are just some of the reasons why I am standing as a Liberal Democrat more reasons that I agree with can be read at Jennie Rigg's blog Why Should I Vote Lib Dem? Part 1: Persuading TeaKay .

In my comments I wanted to be as positive and honest as possible as I don't believe I should have a go at the town council when for the most part they do a good job. Negative campaigning is a big moan by the public however parties use it because they believe it works. The most important thing to write down is what you would do and why, this does mean you have to mention the negative problems within a local area.

Its actually very hard to write for a leaflet, for people who know nothing about you and to get across the kind of information that tells them what kind of councillor you would be. For example I should of added that I would knock on doors regularly to keep in touch with any issues within the ward. Still I am learning all the time and next time I will do a better job of any leaflet that I write. I would also try to get some better pictures of myself, I really don't photograph well enough.

My leaflet is below pages one and two, click on to enlarge;

Owlsmoor council by-election campaign update

I have been campaigning in Owlsmoor for 3 weeks now following my selection as a candidate to fight for the borough and town council seats for the Liberal Democrats.

I have done plenty of door-knocking and canvassing in the past both in the Bracknell constituency and also more widely in surrounding areas but this is the first time that I have been the candidate too. It has been an enjoyable experience so far. I have been pleasantly surprised at how many people are willing to talk to me about issues. Although I have tried to make sure they understand that I can only represent them regarding local issues they often want to talk about national issues too which I am happy to do.

The message that seems to be striking the loudest chord with people is that we really need to have some more opposition voices on the council. The borough council here is dominated by the Conservatives who currently hold 38 seats, Labour hold 3 and there is no-one else. This is not a healthy state for any local council to be in to be so dominated by one party. I would say this about any party having that much dominance and indeed I have seen similar situations in northern England with councils dominated by Labour.

I have also been struck by how little the people I have spoken to have seen of their councillors in the last few years. Not one person to whom I have asked the question "Have you seen your councillors around here in the last few years" has responded yes. The Lib Dems I know who are councillors in neighbouring council areas (Guildford and Reading for example) never stop going around their wards and talking to people. The idea that the people of Owlsmoor never see their councillors is just wrong and is definitely something I would remedy if I was elected.

I have knocked on hundreds of doors so far but there are hundreds more still to go between now and the 25th of February!

This post is cross-posted from Mark Reckons.