In 2001, when the General Election was hinted at being on May 3, I could not resist in having another go. After all, May 3 is my birthday, so
"vote for the birthday boy" would have been one of my
slogans.
However, with the Foot and Mouth epidemic still not under
control,
the date was delayed for a month - until June 7.
Another example of mass manipulation. So I stood
again. This time on my home patch of ILFORD NORTH.
It was not a surprise to me when I was:
(1) virtually totally ignored by one of the local papers
(2) had my posters taken down.
Even when I put them up on the night before the election,
the morning of the election saw the "yellow" party put
theirs up in my place. The candidate even had the gall
to claim he was the "only local candidate", and he did not
even live in the constituency.
In the end, I drew 776 votes - an increase of around two
and a half times what I drew four years earlier. None
of the other candidates could claim that, and I pointed this
fact out in the speeches that each candidate made just
before 2.00am after the count.
It was a pity that the party that was supposed to help its
candidates, failed to do so in my case. The local
branch towards the benefactor did not explore a promise of
financial assistance. Instead, the party ploughed out
more useless leaflets expecting me to visit each and every
household in the constituency. A forlorn hope.