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How to get Elected

Advice, tips and suggestions for getting elected in the UK

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Category: 1.d. Your footprints will follow you wherever you go

Your footprints will follow you wherever you go

July 2, 2018July 4, 2018 ~ Adam Tugwell ~ Leave a comment

With the Internet now available to almost everyone on their phone, and public records of almost every kind now being made transparently available wherever they are located, it is inevitable that we will create a footprint with everything we do publicly.

Whilst I will discuss communication, social media and media relations in pages of their own, it is important to understand fully just how far reaching any news of your public activities can be.

Whether right or wrong, good or bad; people you meet socially, prospective employers, admission committees, people you might want to date and many others besides will have easy access to any material that features your name and activities, which has found its way on to ‘the net’.

What will find its way on to ‘the net’? Well for the purposes of making a decision about whether to campaign and run for an Elected Office, it would be sensible to consider everything – YES EVERYTHING you do and say to anyone as having the potential to find its way into the public realm.

For a start, that includes:

  • Anything you say in public
  • Anything you say to anyone about what you are doing, or what you have planned
  • E-mails (Nothing should be considered private or personal – even if you state that its content is confidential)
  • Pictures
  • Articles in Newspapers and/or on Internet News Pages
  • Public Records (Nomination Papers, Interests, Voting History, Attendance, Comments etc)
  • Blogs
  • Facebook Posts
  • Tweets
  • Any other form of social media
  • Other things too
  • Anything political can be divisive. Politics create barriers or walls in relationships that would otherwise be perfect (Take Brexit and the Remainers vs Leavers as an example).

We have no control over this because it is possible for each and every one of us to feel so passionate about our beliefs that we can feel automatically opposed to any alternative viewpoint.

It takes a lot of thought for anyone to see the opinions of others as an outward expression of the private person that person is. It’s challenging to understand and accept such expressions are not personal and are not really levelled against us personally in any way, and that we should also treat others and their views as being of no threat to us personally.

If you can be objective in politics, you will always know it is possible that you can win. But you have very limited influence on how others will perceive you.

Politics can be a very unfriendly place. If you have any information about you which is already out there on ‘the net’, which you would potentially find embarrassing, difficult to explain or might be seen by some as a way to hurt you for their own purposes, think carefully about whether you want to expose yourself to emotional pain in that way.

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Index

  • 1. Before you decide to run
    • 1.a. Is Politics really for me?
    • 1.b. Success is never guaranteed
    • 1.c. It's not about 'You'
    • 1.d. Your footprints will follow you wherever you go
    • 1.e. The downside of having a public profile
    • 1.f. Being a Councillor can be very frustrating
    • 1.g. Seek the unbiased opinion of others on whether you should run
    • 1.h. Running as an Independent or 'open' Candidate
    • 1.i. Which Local Authority should I run for?
    • 1.j. Where is it easiest to get Elected?
    • 1.k. How much work will it take to get Elected?
    • 1.l. Age & Eligibility to become a Candidate
  • 2. Things you need to know
    • 2.a. If the Election is in May, you need to get started
    • 2.b. Get to know your local Democratic or Electoral Services Department
    • 2.c. The Tiers of Government – An Overview
    • 2.d. Parish & Town Councils
    • 2.e. Borough or District Councils (District Level Authorities)
    • 2.f. County Councils
    • 2.g. Unitary Authorities
    • 2.h. Multiple Seat Wards & Divisions
    • 2.i. By Elections
    • 2.j. Data Protection (GDPR)
  • 3. Developing a Campaign
    • 3.a. Identify the local issue
    • 3.b. Information sources that you MUST use
    • 3.c. Putting out a Questionnaire
    • 3.d. Canvassing before or during an Election Campaign
    • 3.e. Leaflets & Campaign Literature
    • 3.f. Contact Information you should always publish
    • 3.g. Using the Media in Local Elections & Campaigns
    • 3.h. Public Speaking and Interviews
    • 3.i. Using Social Media to get Elected
    • 3.j. Using Facebook to get Elected
    • 3.k. Using Twitter to get Elected
    • 3.l. Using a Blog to get Elected
    • 3.m. Using Linkedin to get Elected
  • 4. The Election
    • 4.a. The Electoral Commission
    • 4.b. Election Expenses
    • 4.c. Signatories to support your Nomination as a Candidate
    • 4.d. Your Manifesto & Election Pledges
    • 4.e. Your Competition
    • 4.f. Election Agents
    • 4.g. The Opening of Postal Votes
    • 4.h. Election Day
    • 4.i. The Count
  • 5. Being a good Representative
    • 5.a. Ethics & Principles for Politics
    • 5.b. Make critical thinking your second nature
    • 5.c. Always know your stuff and come clean when you don't
    • 5.d. Make yourself available
    • 5.e. Respond to Communication
    • 5.f. If you want to be a good politician
    • 5.g. Always check the cap is screwed tight on the Tomato Ketchup
  • 6. Other Information & Support
    • 6.a. Setting up a new Political Party
    • 6.b. Joining a Political Party
    • 6.c. Getting Elected as an MP
    • 6.d. News & Information Sources worth following
    • 6.e. Links

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