As part of our new drive to encourage people to consider applying to get on the Lib Dem’s approval list, we’d like your feedback.

• What are the most rewarding aspects of going through the process and being a candidate?
• What are the greatest challenges?
• What hints and tips would you give to people thinking of applying?

Please add your views in the comments section below - thanks a lot.

Note: comments on this site are moderated and there may be a short delay before your comment is approved and posted. Thank you for your patience.

5 Responses to “Your views wanted!”

1. Steve Guy Says:
   February 2nd, 2006 at 5:33 pm

   Selection day at Cowley Street was an unforgettable experience. There were four candidates when I did mine (all, I regret to say, white males). There’s a lot to get through and the team really put you through your paces. During the day you will be put through role playing exercises like how to deal with a hostile reporter, interrogation about your motivation and party knowledge and you will give a speech which you have prepared. Most of these exercises are unseen by the other candidates but you get to meet them periodically in the ‘green room’. In the afternoon there is a team exercise where you plan a campaign for an imaginary area of differing but neighbouring constituencies. At the end of the day you will be assessed and graded. There is not just a simple pass or fail - you can also be adjudged as ‘not ready’ and given advice on further development, which is very positive. It’s a very intense day where you learn a lot about yourself. The selection team are fantastic and very supportive.

   My advice would be:
   1. Don’t be shy - if you think it may be for you, take the plunge (or else you’ll never know)
   2. It would be great to have a one on one chat with someone who’s been through it
   3. Get active with you local party

   I would like to see the Lib Dems offer one on one mentoring for all potential candidates. I would also like to see a get together for all candidates, both approved and potential, on a regular basis. And of course I would like to see more women and ethnic minority candidates applying!

   If you think you’ve got it - go for it. I am now on the approved list and looking forward to applying for a constituency in the near future.

2. Andy Darley Says:
   February 2nd, 2006 at 7:32 pm

   I went through the selection process twice, once unsuccessfully before the 1997 election and thensuccessfully in time for the 2001 election. I would endorse everything Steve says above, and would add the following:

   When I was unsuccessful in 1997 it wasn’t because I lacked shiny white teeth or a good radio voice or the ability to recite policy with my eyes closed, it was because I lacked a sufficent understanding of the underlying political philosophy that underpins the party. I was, explicitly, told to go away, read John Stuart Mill, and try again. So you may find yourself struggling - and quite rightly too - if you can’t explain why you’re a liberal (as opposed to a Liberal Democrat).

   Following logically from this, the ‘reciting policy backwards’ bit is actually a lot less important than you expect it to be - it feels like it ought to be the equivalent of cramming French verbs or the Highway Code, but it’s not. Policy changes - principles don’t. It’s more important to understand *why* we take a particular view than to remember every precise detail of the policy produced by applying that view to the real world.

   If that sounds a lot more theoretical that you might expect, it doesn’t stop there. You may be a one-person campaigning machine capable of churning out Foci in your sleep, generating petitions as long as phone books, leading teams of activists into battle, and articulating the faults of David Cameron and Tony Blair in press-release-friendly language, but that’s only half the story. An important half, sure, but it’s not enough on its own.

   There has to be a reason why we do all this, and that reason is idealism. This Brave New World we live in sneers at idealism - it makes people suspicious and it doesn’t sell newspapers. But without it you’re just an election-fighting robot, and that’s no good to anyone. So don’t be ashamed of idealism, and don’t be afraid to go in to the candidate selection process with your heart on your sleeve. You’ll be expected to prove you understand the practical methods of turning your ideals into reality, sure, but don’t focus so much on the practical that you ignore the point of it all.

   The good news is that these criteria mean that the ideal Liberal Democrat candidate isn’t assessed on how they look on TV, they’re judged by what they believe (and can you *imagine* a would-be candidate for either of the other parties being sent off to read whoever are their equivalents to JS Mill?). That means you don’t have to be a youngish white media-friendly male with a Home Counties accent: a Muslim grandmother from Bradford with a burning passion for liberalism and a knack for campaigning ticks just as many boxes.

   So, to summarise all that as briefly as possible: understand why you are a liberal, and be prepared to demonstrate your ideals as well as your experience.

   Good luck!

3. Linda Jack Says:
   February 2nd, 2006 at 10:05 pm

   I thoroughly enjoyed selection day, tho I have to admit I was astounded to get thru. Question…………..whats LibDem agricultural policy…….Answer…….I don’t know but I think…dedadedee………thats about our policy (phew!) As a woman, who has not only previously been married to a Sri Lankan, thus being blessed with two beautiful dual heritage children, but has spent most of my life as a youth worker in diverse communities, I know that what we see is what we get! It worries me that the party seems to be controlled by the great and the good. I’m not very great and certainly not very good…………I don’t look like you are supposed to look. At Meeting the Challenge it was a disgrace that we were addressed by white middle aged men all flippin day! (That is not to dis white middle aged men, its just that they are disproportionately represented) So, I would encourage you all. I stood for council having spent some time as a Unison Branch Secretary, negotiating with numpty County Councillors who didn’t know their ……………from their elbow. So, who ever you are, you have something to offer, we live in a society governed by packaging, for me its far more important to know where your heart is. Its not about Oxbridge degrees, its about wisdom, compassion and a commitment to ensuring that EVERYONE has a stake in our increasingly divided society. So………whoever you are……go get em!!!!

4. Stephen Glenn Says:
   February 3rd, 2006 at 12:37 am

   I was initially only licenced to be a candidate in the 2005 General Election but have since gone through the approval system.

   During my policy interview at my licencing I was asked about one element of Scottish Policy which I had spoken against at the debate at conference the previous year. However, the policy was accepted by a democratic vote as was part of Scottish policy. So I’d prepared my respnse to such a question and indeed to any follow up, as my speech had actually been shown live on BBC Scotland that day. However, as Andy said above as it was the detail and not the principle that I had objected to in that policy debate and I was able to bring those elements out in my answer.

   The thing is the exercises you have to prepare for to get approved are things that a candidate really has to go through to a greater of lesser extent depending on the constiuency and your profile in that race. Having now observed up close my second by-election and a key seat campaign in the general election since I have seen how this is good grounding in the skills that you require. The assessors are not so much trying to catch you out as test you to the limit. If you are going to be a candidate and more if you get elected and become an MP you have to be up to challenge.

   Sadly my group was 100% white and 75% male. I know this is not reflective of the talent that we have out there.

   As for what to do ask other’s out there who have gone through it what to expect. When filling out the form think outside the box if you feel you do not have qualities in any area. You may have some life experience which meets a criteria in a certain way which you just take as being normal everyday but is just the sort of thing that is needed.

   To acheive the Reflecting Britain we need a bigger pool and good female and ethnic candidates. In fact I know there are many out there who are hiding their lights under bushels and if they put themsleves forward they would beat many of the white men without breaking a sweat. However, most of all go for it, relax and enjoy yourself.

5. Allan Siao Ming Witherick Says:
   February 5th, 2006 at 2:06 pm

   All I can say is don’t give up and don’t see it as the be all end all.
   It took me several years to complete and submit the PPC forms- simply because I did not take the time out to sit there and do the job properly. Since then I have been offered one Development Day which I was unable to attend nearly a year ago and am still waiting for the next.
   BUT- it has worked out for the best for me. Going through the PPC form, talking to others, gave me an invaluable insight in to the party etc- and I thought I knew it well. By not getting diverted on General Election Day I was able to stand for a County seat- and win- by 10 votes! If I had been distracted by being a PPC somewhere else I don’t know if I would have won…
   Now I am a County Councillor, Police Authority Member and about to Chair my first Topic Group while facing District Council elections.
   That’s more experience which means when I do PPC I’ll be in a far better position.
   So don’t give up- and look at all the opportunities in the party!
   (Also a member of the EMETF and UNISON Black Members National SOC).

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