Greg Lovell's Election Campaign- Labour Party

Finally, after months and weeks of waiting, the General Election Campaigns in the UK have started. People don’t seem to be surprised to see a Conservative candidate walking through Chippenham town centre on a black horse while telling them about intentions and changes he would do if he became an MP. This political theatre appears to be quite exciting to me.

Finding a General Election candidate I could observe in a considerable town like Chippenham doesn’t seem to be difficult. However, all the candidates I have contacted were too busy to email or ring me back. One of the secretaries thought I was joking when I asked to help in a campaign and told me not to bother them. I decided to have one more go and I emailed Greg Lovell- a Labour Party candidate.
On the next morning I checked my emails while having a cup of coffee to keep me going throughout the day at work. My heart started beating quicker filled with hope, excitement and relief. My eyes were staring at an email from Greg Lovell. ‘That was quick’, I thought and read it through quickly.
An email was slightly different to what I expected. Greg was delighted to see that a young person was interested to see how he promotes his views. He also said that they weren’t doing the traditional knocking-on-the-door campaign- simply because of financial reasons and limited time he had with a full time job and his family. He, however, decided to spend Saturdays getting out into the town centers and meeting as many people as possible, giving out leaflets and talking to them about their concerns. It sounded good to me.

He left his phone number and asked to call him so we can discuss all bits and pieces about it. All happy and excited I grabbed my phone and rang him. A male voice answered with a serious tone- ‘Greg Lovell’. His voice changed when I told him who I was. It became happier, more relaxed and warm. I felt like I was talking to an uncle who hadn’t seen me in a long while. He tried his best to be helpful on the phone. We arranged a meeting for the 17th of April in Corsham’s town centre.

The sun was shining and the birds were singing. It was a quiet Saturday morning- sunny but cold. Drops of frost on the grass and cars were shinning in the sunshine like little diamonds. There were no clouds on the sky. It looked like it was going to be a lovely day.

It was my first visit in Corsham. It seemed to be a little, old town. Some people say it is a ‘useless place’ just because the number of shops in town centre was very small. But personally- I loved it. ‘So this is where Greg Lovell spent his childhood. Interesting- write this down.’ I thought wandering about with a notepad and a pen as I was a little early. At least I had a chance to see an open-air Little Wiltshire Farmers market filled with a smell of village food such as cheese, bread, bread rolls.

I finally got to meet the Labour Candidate for an MP of Chippenham. He was young- just approached his thirties- quite tall. He was wearing jeans, white shirt with black sweater and brown shoes, which I thought didn’t go with the entire outfit, but at the end of the day it wasn’t a fashion show.

His campaign was quite exciting. Besides it was the very first campaign I have ever attended, so no wonder why it was so fascinating. We were stood by Somerfield in the Corsham town centre. His friends- councilors- were helping Greg handing out leaflets. They were 7 people all together. They all had red badges with yellow writing ‘vote for labour’. There was a box full of posters, balloons, stickers, leaflets- 2 kinds. One kind for families and the other one for working mums. It looked like they were brilliantly prepared.

Many people were passing by, taking leaflets smiling or putting them right into their pockets as if they weren’t going to look at them again. Greg talked to them in a calm, respectful and convincing way.
A young lady with a baby seemed interested. Greg was telling her about his policy – protecting frontline services. The lady agreed that the NHS is a very important aspect in her and her baby’s life. Greg amused the lady with a little joke about the NHS. She has already agreed to vote Labour. They talked for a long time about the future and about how much needs to be improved. ‘Exactly’ nods the lady, says goodbye and rushes away.

A policeman came over to shake the Candidate’s hand and to ask about his campaign. Greg explained why it is easier and better to meet people on the street. He also explained to him the rules of the new constituency, why it changed and how it changed.

A man in shades came to say thank you for emails Greg sent to him. They then continued talking about other parties and their candidates. They exchanged opinions about a political debate they watched on TV on Thursday night. Greg declared that his opinions about it were biased. They were comparing what Cameron and Brown said that evening. The man also mentioned a problem he had by his house. It was a large number of lorries driving past his tiny road. He asked Greg to mention it during the next meeting.

The weather was getting hotter and hotter as the time was passing by. Still sunny, surprisingly wonderful compare to all the other days this week. Doves were walking on the pavement. It’s strange how I have never seen such white pigeons before.

When it got really busy just before lunchtime I thought I could help a little, as up to this point I was just observing, listening and writing things down. I grabbed a badge and a few leaflets and I started giving them away to people. A young man- early thirties- stopped for a chat after he took a leaflet. He was fascinated with Greg’s ideas and asked for ‘VOTE LABOUR’ posters to put upon his windows.

It’s interesting how many different people walked past in an hour time. Foreigners, teenagers, elderly people, young marriages with babies. Some of them looked happy but some of them were grumpy and unhappy about a Labour candidate campaigning in their town.

We all experienced an amusing moment when an elderly man wearing a beret came over to tell a story from his childhood when he was taught to vote ‘LABOUR ONLY’. He was a very confident, cheery man that made us all laugh.
It was an incredible experience to be able to help in such an important event. An unordinary day like this one doesn’t happen often. I was glad to be so closely involved with politics.