The Hustings Speech that never was...
With less than five days to go the election is effectively over - with this in mind, and surrounded by old faces at the London hustings I decided to can the phoney theatrics and pomposity. Someone said lats week that I'm not a great self-publicist, and to tell the truth they're right. The disingenuousness of the campaigning doesn't sit easily with me, and the re-emergence of the YC-style shenanigans has been a stark contrast to the faction-free past year. Here is the speech that never was.
"It’s hard to believe a year has gone by, but in a way I’m glad.
I decided that putting my life on hold for another year, putting up with the constant deadlines, the problems, the lack of support from anybody is not the way to go.
For all its potential, CF is a failing organisation and will continue to be so until it makes a fundamental change in how it works.
The good thing about being a candidate for Chairman is that for a month and a half I get a captive audience. And so, at the risk of losing my place as the chairman candidate who is least ‘up themselves’ here is the solution to all our problems.
We must fundamentally change the balance between the regions and the centre, and in these vital nine months, the next chairman must regionalise this organisation.
The NME must stop acting as a super branch and become a service provider to the regions and regional coordinators must be appointed to bring area chairmen and the senior party together to plan the revival of CF across the country.
Long-term success will only come about by building up our grassroots, and regionalisation is the only way to do it.
There has been a lot of talk about experience, so here’s my experience –the record of the youngest candidate.
I’ve set up two teams of writers to allow us to update our website twice daily, created a national network of regional websites, redesigned and secured funding for a new CF website, started an e-library of best practise that can be improved on year-on-year, fought to hire our first long term intern Richard ‘Action’ Jackson and started an internet TV station – CF TV. All done for free.
120 volunteers, trained and working hard in a simple system that encourages them to just get on with it.
With every one of the 240 volunteers I have worked with over the past few years there comes a point when they stop asking “What do I do?” and start saying “Here’s what I’m going to do!” Imagine we had eleven regions with volunteers saying the same. At the moment our branch and area successes are lonely outposts, unsupported and unconnected. Hopefully with my work in the past few years I have shown what can be achieved by bringing people together.
The common thread that links all this work, is that in 2009, the date of the next general election, CF members will be using the tools I have helped put in place in 2006.
Imagine all seven people on the national exec had done the same this year?
Don’t get me wrong, the exec have worked hard. But those campaign days, those great events in trendy London bars will count for nothing in the long run, because for every event organised centrally our volunteers, our grassroots, lose the opportunity to learn how to do it for themselves.
Lots of central funding sounds great, but at the centre we are brilliantly funded. Teaching our branches and Areas how they can better raise funds is the key.
Campaigning in national Action days was fun, but each region must take ownership for its success at the polls.
Setting up individual branches is great, but CF is failing because we have no system to support the ones we already have. Being an area chairman is such a bad job that only 18 of 44 places have been filled –we can’t even give it away.
We need to stamp a regional identity on each CF branch and area, and within those regions coordinate events, training, fundraising and yes, targeted campaigning.
It won’t work any other way. Seven people based in and around London can work really hard, but lasting success only comes when people take ownership of their own success.
I am hoping that maybe, just maybe, the thunderbolt will strike – and that that idea will start to take hold, because if I’ve learnt anything from working with over 240 volunteers over the years, it’s that young people have such huge reserves of potential.
I need to use this opportunity to thank the volunteers who have been so generous with their time and energy. They are an inspiration to me and have kept me going in what has at times been a pretty crappy job.
And to you guys, the CF members who we’ll rely on next year – it’s been nice working with you."
"It’s hard to believe a year has gone by, but in a way I’m glad.
I decided that putting my life on hold for another year, putting up with the constant deadlines, the problems, the lack of support from anybody is not the way to go.
For all its potential, CF is a failing organisation and will continue to be so until it makes a fundamental change in how it works.
The good thing about being a candidate for Chairman is that for a month and a half I get a captive audience. And so, at the risk of losing my place as the chairman candidate who is least ‘up themselves’ here is the solution to all our problems.
We must fundamentally change the balance between the regions and the centre, and in these vital nine months, the next chairman must regionalise this organisation.
The NME must stop acting as a super branch and become a service provider to the regions and regional coordinators must be appointed to bring area chairmen and the senior party together to plan the revival of CF across the country.
Long-term success will only come about by building up our grassroots, and regionalisation is the only way to do it.
There has been a lot of talk about experience, so here’s my experience –the record of the youngest candidate.
I’ve set up two teams of writers to allow us to update our website twice daily, created a national network of regional websites, redesigned and secured funding for a new CF website, started an e-library of best practise that can be improved on year-on-year, fought to hire our first long term intern Richard ‘Action’ Jackson and started an internet TV station – CF TV. All done for free.
120 volunteers, trained and working hard in a simple system that encourages them to just get on with it.
With every one of the 240 volunteers I have worked with over the past few years there comes a point when they stop asking “What do I do?” and start saying “Here’s what I’m going to do!” Imagine we had eleven regions with volunteers saying the same. At the moment our branch and area successes are lonely outposts, unsupported and unconnected. Hopefully with my work in the past few years I have shown what can be achieved by bringing people together.
The common thread that links all this work, is that in 2009, the date of the next general election, CF members will be using the tools I have helped put in place in 2006.
Imagine all seven people on the national exec had done the same this year?
Don’t get me wrong, the exec have worked hard. But those campaign days, those great events in trendy London bars will count for nothing in the long run, because for every event organised centrally our volunteers, our grassroots, lose the opportunity to learn how to do it for themselves.
Lots of central funding sounds great, but at the centre we are brilliantly funded. Teaching our branches and Areas how they can better raise funds is the key.
Campaigning in national Action days was fun, but each region must take ownership for its success at the polls.
Setting up individual branches is great, but CF is failing because we have no system to support the ones we already have. Being an area chairman is such a bad job that only 18 of 44 places have been filled –we can’t even give it away.
We need to stamp a regional identity on each CF branch and area, and within those regions coordinate events, training, fundraising and yes, targeted campaigning.
It won’t work any other way. Seven people based in and around London can work really hard, but lasting success only comes when people take ownership of their own success.
I am hoping that maybe, just maybe, the thunderbolt will strike – and that that idea will start to take hold, because if I’ve learnt anything from working with over 240 volunteers over the years, it’s that young people have such huge reserves of potential.
I need to use this opportunity to thank the volunteers who have been so generous with their time and energy. They are an inspiration to me and have kept me going in what has at times been a pretty crappy job.
And to you guys, the CF members who we’ll rely on next year – it’s been nice working with you."
posted by Andrew Young at 2:22 AM
4 Comments:
Have you actually withdrawn from the race or something? And if so, why?
Can't withdraw from the race - but with a week to go I'm putting up the final content to the site before retiring to my cottage in the Southwark countryside
Has been a rewarding year, but working on the exec was pointless without substantial reform of the organisation.
However, a friend persuaded me to stand before stepping down, I may not be able to catch up with Mark and Caroline's longer-established campaigns but I can use the platform to campaign for that reform we so desperately need.
It has been fun and members have been very positive about what I've said. Lots of people feel strongly about the need for regionalisation and changing how we work.
Some of what I'm saying seems to be seeping through to the other two's campaigns, to the point that Mark's slate on the exec actively promoted aspects of it at hustings(an astonishing about-face that gives me some hope for the future).
The election result is probably all decided by now - but anybody who wants to cast a protest vote against centralisation is welcome to tick the box beside my name.
Elections are never certain until the results are announced anything could happen anything can change, and I believe more than anything you have everything to play for.
And so what if the worst happens and you don’t win it can only make you stronger and what is to stop you going for it again?
You are very talented and have done a great deal of work for CF which has had such a positive impact.
If it wasn't for the copywriting work with CF I'd have never been involved with CF let alone hoping to successfully to create a local CF branch.
Don’t give it up, fight to the end.
Anne-Marie, thanks for the comments, though the Andrew Young love-fest is starting to sound like Mark's site.
Good to have you involved in CF, I noticed that two of Mark's team are ex-copywriters (Claire Palmer and Jonathan Ash Edwards). Also, Tim Aker (NME candidate) and Sam Coates from ConHome.
It's been a good way of locking in our members.
Seriously though, there are very few days left to get ballots in, and so the result is likely decided. I'll keep putting up the positive stuff but the campaigning proper will be brought to a close.
Thanks anyway - good luck in Woodspring next year.
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