Each week a different PPC provides us with an insight into life as a candidate and gives us a flavour of their own campaign and interests. If you are a candidate and are keen to be featured, please email Jonathan Isaby.
This week's diary is written by Gareth Johnson, candidate for Dartford in Kent. After fighting Lewisham West in 2001, he first fought Dartford in 2005, losing then to Labour’s Howard Stoate by 706 votes, meaning that he now requires a swing of 1% to gain the seat. Gareth is a local man who went to Dartford Grammar School and lives with his family in the constituency. He is 39 years old and a solicitor.
Monday 13th April
I am woken at 6am by our 4-month-old Golden Retriever puppy licking my face! He somehow managed to get out of his puppy pen and into our bedroom. I decide to concede defeat to him and get up to wash the dog slobber from my face – oh the glamour of being the Parliamentary Candidate for Dartford!
Despite it being Easter Monday, we have arranged a canvassing session as part of our County Council/Euro Election campaign, which is now in full swing, and we are confident of making significant progress in the four County Council Divisions in Dartford that we don’t currently hold. We are campaigning in Greenhithe, an up-and-coming area situated between Bluewater Shopping Centre and the new Ebbsfleet International train station. The canvassing went well. My typical candidate pessimism often prevents me believing the poll leads, but there are plenty of fed up, former Labour Party supporters out there.
Tuesday 14th April 2009 Woken at 5am today by my five year old son jumping on me - I guess that it is marginally preferable to a slobbering puppy! Back to work today after the Easter holiday. I work as a defence solicitor for a High Street firm near Dartford, where I deal with anything from minor traffic offences to murders and some civil work too. We deal with a range of legal work but like most small businesses we face financial difficulties: recently the conveyancing department had to close as it unfortunately became another victim of the recession.
Today I am off to Court for a trial where I am defending a young lad for his involvement in what was little more than a minor playground shoving match. I seem to be dealing with an increasing number of cases like this which, instead of being resolved by parents and schools, are dragged through the Courts. He is acquitted. Thankfully it is a victory for common sense over political correctness and I can let my blood pressure lower a bit. It angers me intensely when I deal with an injustice.
This evening I come home and have dinner with my family before spending the rest of the evening dealing with emails and press releases. As every candidate will tell you, we deal with dozens and dozens of emails each week. Those from local residents can be the most challenging, but also the most rewarding when you are able to assist someone with a genuine problem. I guess this side of the work is a small taster of what being an MP will entail.
Wednesday 15th April
Up early again today. It’s my daughter’s birthday and she is bouncing off the walls with excitement. The irony is that the more my children long for their birthdays the more I dread mine...
I get to work later than usual due to getting caught up in the tailbacks from the Dartford Crossing. It is particularly bad today. The local media have welcomed my repeated calls to scrap the tolls - a stance which is strongly supported by local residents. I have worked with the Shadow Transport team, neighbouring MPs and transport groups on this issue. The Government said that they would scrap the tolls once the bridge had been paid for, but that happened back in 2003, yet the tolls continue. The pollution, noise and congestion emanating from the toll booths is quite shocking.
I arrive at work and deal with a client who faces losing his driving licence. There are a large number of tradesmen who fall foul of one too many speed cameras in the local area and face losing their licence. In the current economic climate it can be devastating for this to happen to people. It often means losing their job, their home and almost everything they have. Selfish, reckless driving costs lives and should be dealt with severely. However I do sometimes wonder if there is more than an element of fund raising associated with speed cameras and that we are, as a nation, too harsh on the motorist.
We have a Campaign Team meeting tonight. The group has been adapted from my General Election team and so both my campaign and this one can be run together. The discussions centred on the literature that will be used for the elections and the candidates profiles. We have a genuinely strong group of County Council candidates and have high hopes for them.
Thursday 16th April
I took time out during lunch today to pop into our Association offices. I like to go there fairly often to pick up any correspondence. Today there are the usual interest groups who have written to me and some correspondence from local residents. Living and working in Dartford enables me to meet local people every day and helps me to keep in touch with the mood on the ground.
Straight after work I go to Bluewater Shopping Centre to speak to some retailers with whom I have been liaising about the ongoing battle against shoplifting. Bluewater is an incredible place. Like most men, I dislike shopping intensely but Bluewater is different. It is more of a leisure complex with retail at its heart. My wife admits that she had no objection to living closer to Bluewater when I was selected for Dartford!
Damian Green was told today that he would not face prosecution. I know that there is a danger of politicians talking to each other over this issue but as a defence lawyer I was incensed by his arrest. It typified all that is wrong with this controlling, self-serving Government that does not like to be held to account. Surely the only misconduct in office here was from the Government.
Friday 17th April
I spend all day in the office, which is unusual. I prefer to be out at Court, the coal face of the work that I do. I note that there is some speculation that the Labour Party will begin using its Tory Toff attacks again. This divisive tactic backfired at the Crewe and Nantwich by-election, yet some people in the Labour Party seem to enjoy malicious tactics. As a Grammar School-educated son of a milkman, I think that they would have difficulty making that charge stick to me!
I am able to pop home after work to have dinner before attending a branch fund raising event. Richard Ashworth MEP has kindly agreed to attend the event and speak to the branch about the EU and the upcoming Euro elections. It is a well-attended event which raised some much needed funds from the ticket sales and the obligatory raffle. Richard is a fantastic public speaker and an extremely likeable man. He talks about a whole range of issues currently affecting us. There is a surprising amount of consensus in the room over European issues. An event like this a few years ago would have had us all at each others' throats!
Saturday 18th April
The Conservative Group on Dartford Borough Council has a group meeting this morning which I attend. It is a good opportunity to keep up to date with all that is happening with the Authority. We meet up at Princes Park (the home of Dartford Football Club) which the Council recently had built. It is a real local achievement for them and one which is incredibly popular with local residents. The Borough Council in Dartford is very much Councillor-led and is always brimming with new ideas. I have a quick meeting with the Leader of the Council and then we all meet up in Dartford to canvass in one of the target divisions for the County Council Elections. There is no doubt that the Conservative vote is strong and the Labour vote very weak. The response we receive on the doorstep reminds me very much of 1997, but this time the anger and desire for a change is directed against the Labour Party.
Sunday 18th April
A relaxing day at home with two screaming children and a moronic, hyperactive puppy! I know that being a candidate can be tough on my family and I don’t expect it to get any easier after the election, so it is good to have the opportunity to spend a day with them. This week has not really been that typical as it has been the Easter holidays but then the role is so varied that I don’t think that there is such a thing as a typical week. I am now fighting this seat for the second time, having lost narrowly in 2005. Margaret Thatcher stood in Dartford during the 1950s but - strange as it may sound - I do not want to follow in her footsteps as she lost here twice!
I am often asked what it is like to be a Parliamentary Candidate. The fact is that it covers so many emotions that there is no end of adjectives you could use to describe what it’s like. It is hard work, frustrating, demanding, but also very enjoyable. I guess that is why it is a good learning ground to be an MP. I am very fortunate to have a supportive wife and family and a first class team of local activists led by Chris Shippam, the Constituency Chairman. This makes the job much easier. I am sure I am like every candidate when I say that I can’t wait for a General Election. I don’t aspire to be a candidate, I aspire to be an MP. I can’t wait to have the opportunity of putting this Government and the Country out of its misery.
Next week's Diary will be written by Pauline Latham, PPC for Mid Derbyshire. Last week's was written by Annunziata Rees-Mogg, who is PPC for Somerton & Frome.