Have you ever considered standing for Parliament?

Several MPs say that one of the main reasons why they decided to stand for Parliament was that someone asked them. So that being the case, consider yourself asked!

Over the next few weeks we want to encourage as many people as possible to consider standing for Parliament. It isn’t for everyone, to be sure. But for many, many people it is an incredibly rewarding experience, where they discover new skills they never knew they had, get to put issues on the political agenda that would otherwise be forgotten, stand up for their communities and, in a few cases, go on to become an MP.

The Party looks for quite a number of qualities in a Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (”PPC”). This list may seem quite daunting at first, but most of it boils down to an ability to apply common sense, assertiveness and a basic level of experience. Training is widely available (particularly at party conferences) and if you combine that by getting directly involved in party organisation and campaigning, you should be able to develop the neccessary skill set pretty quickly.

The approval process itself consists of filling in an application form, finding five party members willing to sponsor you and going on an assessment day. At the assessment day, you will either be given full approval, be given approval subject to taking further training or gaining certain experiences, be required to attend another assessment day once you have gained certain training or experience or, in extreme cases, fail. You can get an application form by getting in touch with the party’s Candidates Office, although you are advised to get some advice first before rushing into things. You can request one by entering in your contact details here.

In short however, we would recommend that potential candidates remember the three Ps:

• Firstly, you have to have passion for what you believe in. You have to really want to make a difference, not simply want to be a candidate or MP for its own sake. Being passionate about your politics is what will drive you forward during the tough days and will guide you when making tough decisions.
• Secondly, you need to plan, plan, plan. To be successful, you need to continually assess where you are and where you want to be. Don’t try to bite off more than you can chew at first; instead, set yourself attainable objectives and achieve them before setting yourself new ones.
• Thirdly, you must have persistence. You have to be prepared for numerous setbacks and you can’t let the first little problem put you off.

(For more advice, see the “do it” section of this website.)

The Gender Balance Task Force and the Ethnic Minority Election Task Force can help advise and mentor you if you are interested in taking things further, but are not sure where you start. If you would like someone to get in touch, simply select what you want by ticking the appropriate boxes here: