Campaign: Henley

I promised on Friday that I would be back eventually with more news, and I am. I also said that from today I could get back to campaigning, and I did. In Henley…

When he first won the Parliamentary seat of Henley in 2001, Boris Johnson published a very entertaining book called “Friends Voters Countrymen“, with the tag-line “jottings on the stump”. I would like to make clear that the fact that I made notes on my BlackBerry as I traversed the streets of Henley armed with John Howell‘s by-election literature is not taken from Mr Johnson’s fantastic read.

I joined the ConservativeHome coach trip to Henley today to spend a few hours campaigning for Thursday’s all-important by-election. I cam home exhausted but feeling so relieved to finally be back into what I like best: campaigning.

Unfortunately, the poor people of Henley aren’t enjoying the experience so much. Twice today I was told (once politely, once not so) to keep the literature because they were fed up and one mat contained a Lib Dem Oxfordshire News (a laughably transparent “independent-looking” newspaper with just one instance of the LD logo and a continuous assault of Mr Howell), a Lib Dem pledge letter, a Conservative In Touch and, after today,a Conservative South Oxfordshire Life (a brilliantly designed 8-page glossy magazine that makes no attempts to appear “independent”).

It is hard not to feel sorry for the residents of South Oxfordshire as today we not only came across the Lib Dems campaigning, but also Beauties for Britain. However, there is an election to fight – and an election to win! From the outset it may appear clear-cut: Boris was holding a 12,000-strong majority in 2005 and the Lib Dems are hardly likely to overturn that. On the other hand, regardless of the many arguments I’ve had about personal votes, a personal vote is something Boris certainly had, and I’d be willing to bet it was quite strong. Plus, the entire might of the Conservative and Liberal parties has descended on the Constituency over the past couple of weeks, and some people may now be so fed up that they don’t go out and vote.

That notwithstanding, we political activists are unperturbed (except when it comes to dogs!) and many will continue to fight until close of play on Thursday to ensure that John Howell is returned as Member of Parliament for Henley.

Below are the full notes I made on my BlackBerry during, to give you a brief insight into how today panned out for me:

08:43 On the train to London Victoria. Suffering slightly after last night. There’s a woman to my left across the aisle marking AQA exam papers (I can see the distinctive purple 12-page answer booklets). What I can’t see are subject and level.

09:14 Just passing through London. I’m admiring some of the graffiti on the walls. Most are just scribbles, but some make you think “Wow! If that were somewhere appropriate that would be considered genuine art!”.

10:21 The coach has just left St James’s tube station for Henley. Tim (Montgomerie) is already handing out the Krispy Kreme donoughts. Our eta in Henley is 11:30.

11:22 We’ve just pitched up in Henley. Tim has gone in to the campaign office to find out what they want us to do.

12:29 I’ve almost finished delivering three packs of 25 leaflets. We’ve been paired off – and I’m with Sam (Coates). We are also with two other activists who are a few streets away. I’ve just come face-to-face with a rather loud and rather large black dog. Luckily for me, the owner was there as well!

13:40 We are at the Angel on the Bridge for lunch. We are literally on the river and the view here is absolutely beautiful. I only wish I had bought my camera with me. The only problem is that it is so popular that there is a 40-minute delay for food. Still, I have delivered 89 leaflets so far today.

14:55 Me and Sam have just left the office for the afternoon work. We have been given several streets, but must climb one of the steepest hills I have ever come across in my life to get to them. Needless to say I am fully in need of an oxygen mask by the time I finally reach the top (about 45 seconds after Sam, whose general fitness I envy muchly)!

15:15 I have just been on one private estate (of 21 houses) with leaflets at the same time as one rather fed-up Lib Dem delivering pledge letters. I was confronted by on resident who opened his door before I even reached it, angry at the by-election cost and the amount of paper being used. I spoke to the Lib Dem guy (he got exactly the same treatment whilst I was across the estate from him) who said he’d be glad when Thursday’s passed.

16:39 We’re back at the pub having finished for the day. It seems Tim has bravely ventured into the rural areas of the Constituency, but should be back at the coach by 17:30 (as agreed this morning). Everyone is discussing the campaign – and the many dogs around Henley! I have delivered in total 211 leaflets – which I am quite happy about – and today a good few thousand leaflets were distributed, which is encouraging.

17:39 We’ve just had the photo call and the coach is heading back to London. Tim’s cracked open the Krispy Kremes again and everyone is happily chatting away.

18:28 I had fallen asleep on the coach, only to be awoken by someone shouting something. There was very heave traffic on the M4 and we had, apparently, just moved over into the M4 bus and taxi lane, speeding past all the other slow-moving cars. I was discussing this with Chris Kelly, once I was sufficiently “with it”. Although ordinarily I’d complain – if the lane were used as a normal motorway lane, those cars would be moving slightly quicker. But, today, it was ensuring we got back a lot quicker, so I didn’t care.

19:24 I’m on the train which is just leaving London Victoria. My feet are killing me and I am absolutely exhausted (as I had very little sleep last night and have been going almost non-stop since Friday evening at Cadets) – but the day has been thoroughly worthwhile. I should be back home in time to relax, type this up and then have a nice long sleep … until about 12:30 tomorrow!