Saturday on the campaign trail in Hornsey and Wood Green

Posted on 9th Apr 2005 by Lynne Featherstone

Our campaign HQ opens today. I go there at 11 to start canvassing. It is just a fabby HQ, above the Three Compasses pub on Hornsey High Street. Above a pub – bound to be popular with people coming to help! Right in the centre of the constituency and with just the nicest owners and staff – and great, real, food.

The office is already buzzing and there are helpers already doing what helpers do in an election – sticking bits of double-sided tape on posters and folding letters for stuffing. Love it to bits. Valerie is front of house at HQ – President of London Region Liberal Democrats, activist over decades – and who for the last (can’t remember how many) elections has gone to Southwark to do front of house for Simon Hughes. This time she is staying on here to help me win the seat – because basically this time – it’s game on.

I go off with Monica to canvas a new block of flats in Crouch End. It has an entry system that is impenetrable. Needless to say we do penetrate – as the candidate it’s often not too bad trying to get into places as people generally want to offer you the democratic opportunity to knock on doors.

One single mother I spoke too with two very young children said it was a nightmare because they never got any leaflets – the leaflets most of us moan about littering our floors about pizzas etc! As a result – cut off from the businesses in the area and didn’t get local news through free newspapers, political leaflets etc.

Back to the pub for lunch and a drink with the activists. Sarah Ludford, MEP arrives to go out canvassing. I give her the times of the blessing (Camilla and Charles) and the Grand National – so that they can avoid knocking on doors during those and off she goes.

A group sitting at a table in the pub call me over, wish me luck and ask for a poster … It reminds me of the campaign technique my agent and I used in ’97 when we didn’t have a clue about campaigning. We used to finish canvassing (Muswell Hill ward) at about 9pm and then he and I would go to the various eatery or drinkery establishments in the constituency wearing our rosettes as a means of seeing and being seen. I didn’t win! Eight years later, my campaign manager just roars with laughter at what he regards as completely amateur techniques – but I’m not so sure … (And it was a good way to end a hard day’s campaigning).

I have a brief word with my agent who tells me that the local Conservative party chair was loitering downstairs outside our HQ for an hour or so in the morning. Strange! Surely they’ve got better things to do …

Monica and I go to do a couple of hours delivering. She is nervous that I may mention her driving in my blog. But I won’t – it’s really her parking technique that is of interest. People smile at me in the street – which I take as a good sign – it sure beats not smiling or ignoring. Two hours of my exercise program – unfortunately in high heels as I forgot to bring my trainers out – is my Bridget Jones for the day.

I rush home to check messages and finish up some correspondence. About 10pm I finish (well you never finish but I do have two children and am single so occasionally feel it appropriate to appear) and go into the lounge to watch a film with them. Needless to say I fall asleep on the sofa.

Women at home

Posted on 30th Oct 2004 by Lynne Featherstone

Hotfoot over to a hall in Wembley for the rally at the end of the London Region Liberal Democrat Conference.

Wembley is not easy to access at the moment with the closure of all of its stations during the construction work for the new stadium. I gave up and took my car – only to find that although easy to get to – I might never leave as there were notices of road closures all over the place for the Diwali procession.

Anyway, the rally was titled: ‘London’s Winning Women’ – with myself, Dee Doocey (our new GLA member), Baroness Sally Hamwee from the London Assembly and Sarah Ludford MEP.

I talked about Bob Geldof’s recent pronouncements about how much he enjoyed coming home to his partner doing something very feminine in the kitchen – presumably to do with food or curtains. I can’t cook and have bare windows – maybe that’s why I’m divorced.

Now Bob’s recent comments about a women’s place being in the kitchen are usually the sort of thing that makes me want to throw up. However – if you really think about it, what Sir Bob is really, really saying is – women make the world a better place (wherever they are). I couldn’t agree more.

Many of the problems I see are because the people taking decisions at the highest levels in both politics and business are still generally men – which goes a long way to explaining why the world is the way it is. But before I launch into full scale debate mode – suffice to say – we rallied our supporters and fully expect to get at least five women elected in London to Parliament when Blair calls the election. And despite the flurry of speculation in the papers that it might be February – I still think May is the safer bet.

Manifesto launch

Posted on 26th Apr 2004 by Lynne Featherstone

Meet Simon Hughes and Sarah Ludford MEP at LibDem HQ in Cowley Street from where we are taking a tour of central London on an open top bus to launch Simon’s Mayoral Manifesto (see his website for more details).

And the sun shone down on us which made the whole event fab. If it had poured with rain, the massed ranks of the media that accompanied us might well have given less rave reviews. As it was, the media analysis of Simon’s manifesto was pretty good.

The bus tour was linked with the manifesto pledges and commitments – and Simon on microphone talked the journos through the problems and challenges of London as we passed them. It worked really well and Simon was on top form.

He did say to me that the sun shines on the righteous…!

Falling out of love with Ken

Posted on 22nd Apr 2004 by Lynne Featherstone

Take scrutiny officers that have served the Transport Committee to pub for a thank you drink after the last meeting of the Transport Committee in the first term of London government. I felt rather sentimental after four years of absolute pleasure in my brief – and felt even more sentimental after a couple of gin and tonics.

Sadly, I had to go back to work to finish of the speech I had been writing for Thursday evening’s London Region Lib Dem Rally.

At the rally, Charles Kennedy, Simon Hughes, Sarah Ludford (MEP) and I are primed to rally our troops and kick off our London campaign.

So we did. Charles was in excellent form. Spoke for 20 minutes without notes, stirring stuff! And he seemed fit and well – which I was as relieved about as everyone else.

Simon gave us his vision for London (more of which will follow over the coming weeks of the election – and will be launched to the media on Monday), then Sarah and then me.

If I say so myself, it was one of my better speeches. I had an unashamed attack on my ex-best friend Mayor Livingstone. I will publish the speech on the web next week. But made the serious points through humour – and there are lots of not very funny things about Ken which after four years working with him I can see explain very well why he was treated like the devil incarnate by the Labour Party last time out.