You are probably wondering what on earth ‘always check the cap is screwed tight on the Tomato Ketchup’ could possibly be about. We are discussing How to get Elected after all!
This page is about always having attention to detail and remembering who you are. A suggestion that you should never let your guard down in company wherever you might be. Some cautionary advice that you should always be minded that you never have genuine friends in politics and you must therefore keep yourself very safe unless and until you are absolutely sure.
The reason for the title, is it is perhaps the best way to illustrate the ubiquitous presence of otherwise meaningless opportunities for you to trip yourself up on a campaign, as a councillor or in politics if you lose focus and take your eyes off the ball.
Being a good campaigner, councillor and politician is about always being conscious of everything we do and the consequences thereafter. Not just in the big things, but in the small things too. Because in the reality which is politics, it can often be the detail which counts.
A cautionary Campaign Tale…
In the Election Campaign leading to my first District Level Seat with Tewkesbury Borough Council, I was fortunate to be working with volunteers and other candidates running for the same Authority.
We were working together on the principle that many hands made light work (Which in politics is not necessarily the case as the more people the actual candidate meets the better), and would spend evenings and Saturdays taking it in turns to cover significant parts of our respective target Wards.
After what felt like a successful Saturday morning covering a lot of the area which was soon to become my Ward, we all headed off for lunch at the local Hungry Horse.
When the meal arrived, I soon headed for the condiments table and returned with a glass bottle of Tommy K.
As I neared the table, I began to shake the bottle, firing the cap and much of the contents across a wall and over one of the other Candidates who had travelled some 10 miles or more to help.
I had been relaxed, excited about the feedback from our mornings work and not thinking about where I was or who I was with. I had let my guard down.
I didn’t really know the people I was with and had lost sight of almost everything, just because in that particular instance, we had all had commonality and been sharing an experience of just one thing.
How many other instances can you imagine where it would be easy for you to do exactly the same thing?
image thanks to unknown
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