Monday 10 May 2010

Part time campaigns fail to take off

There were a few sub-plots in the Battle of the Bush, all of which have now reached their own endings, usually in disappointment for the candidates.

Merlene Emersmon, the LibDem candidate in the Battle of the Bush ran a part time campaign which backfired on polling day, not coming close to either the Conservative or Labour campaigns. She was also standing as a council candidate in Richmond, as as you can see here, she failed in that endeavour too. In fact Richmond was lost by the LibDems on their night of disappointment to the Tories as a whole.

Paul Bristow paid an even heavier price. After coming under pressure to either stand down as an H&F councillor or give up his fight to become an MP in Middlesbrough, he chose the chance to enter parliament representing his native north east. As Cameron's Tories fell short so Mr Bristow ended up empty handed. He is now neither a councillor nor an MP.

And finally give a thought to one of the unsung heroes of the local campaign for me - Green Party candidate Rollo Miles. I first came across his campaign when he released this truly awful video but having met him over the last few months I've come to like the guy - he was the only one who really said-it-as-it-is and not being a professional politician he often said it rather bluntly. After his comments on the Middle East at this debate he started being followed round by angry supporters of one side or another in the mid-east conflict! An all round nice guy - which is unusual for an estate agent.

I don't think there's much more to say about the Battle of the Bush - but it's been a ball.

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