Anyone fancy standing for our MP as a 'Save TUFC from GI' candidate?

WillowsGull · Post by **WillowsGull** » 19 Apr 2017, 04:52

There's only a £500 deposit needed to stand and I'm sure 50 of us would contribute a tenner to pay for it.

It would certainly help to highlight our plight locally and hopefully nationally too.

gullpower · Post by **gullpower** » 19 Apr 2017, 07:00

Excellent idea! Even if the only time the candidate got a mention was at the announcement of the result the message would reach a wide audience.

Thinking back to the recent forum there are plenty of articulate fans that could do the job.

I have never campaigned on behalf of a political party but will get involved if this goes ahead.

Nick Potkins · Post by **Nick Potkins** » 19 Apr 2017, 08:39

Great idea and worth looking into. The cost needs to be checked, is this the correct amount?

It should be noted for this you get quite a lot of costs paid, including leaflets, post and alike...........

Neal · Post by **Neal** » 19 Apr 2017, 08:43

great idea Yes Im for that.

I thought the deposit was more these days though?

Neal · Post by **Neal** » 19 Apr 2017, 08:44

Blast, I don't live in the bay, but will contribute and campaign!!

Neal · Post by **Neal** » 19 Apr 2017, 08:45

Im really up for this, lets all come together and do it. I will come down one weekend and go house to house campaigning.

Post by **Southampton Gull** » 19 Apr 2017, 08:55

I think Soupdragon outlined the costs involved and from memory it can cost a lot more than that if you lose your deposit too.

standupsitdown · Post by **standupsitdown** » 19 Apr 2017, 09:11

Deposit still £500 as far as I'm aware.
I'm happy to contribute.

Plainmoor78 · Post by **Plainmoor78** » 19 Apr 2017, 09:23

Soupdragon, referring to the mayoral election, said it was £500 to stand plus £500 to be included in council produced election mailer.
The best thing to do is see what TUST think of this, they might use some of their funds to finance it.
The best thing about it is we would be able to leaflet every house in the bay. The herald Express would be legally obilged to at least give us a mention under the representation of the people act.

westyorkshiregull · Post by **westyorkshiregull** » 19 Apr 2017, 09:29

Won't it all be too late by then ...but anything is great idea...ill chip in

merse btpir · Post by **merse btpir** » 19 Apr 2017, 09:46

Once again lunatic blue sky thinking clouding the reality...this is a snap (7 week) election deliberately called for by an under pressure Prime Minister who previously pledged not to stoop to such a stunt.......

It's a BREXIT stunt that will try to deflect the public's attention away from austerity, diminishing central government provision for social care, housing and education; no-one will give a flying **** about TUFC & GI in this arena.

Concentrate at what we are good at and that has been shown this week in what has been an excellent week for getting our message out.

Valuable and limited trust resources are required for what is realistically achievable and that is lobbying, possible legal representation and NOT silly stunts dreamed up by someone who quite frankly doesn't even appear to have either knowledge of the cost or the extremely limited time scale available.

Please; let's stay focused

Glostergull · Post by **Glostergull** » 19 Apr 2017, 09:53

Hi Guys
have given my details to Merse if the Guardian wants to talk to me.
On campaigning for Parliament. several things need to be born in mind
1.
you need loads of time. this is not for a family man who still expects to see his kids at night. It's am all in bushwhacking experience. if you have a family don't expect to see them in the forseeable future, and that will include sitting in the commons if you win.(slim but possible) we cannot campaign and then expect just to go there for the benefit of our football club. we have to cover other issues as well. local issues not just United. or the public just won't vote for us and we will again look as if we have myopic eyesight
There are loads of issues to pick from and your leanings will be taken into account. lean too far one way or the other and people might love the idealism but be afraid to vote for you as they will view you a nutter.
2.
you need a pot of money. the initial fee is £500. (for some reason I thought it had been raised to £1500 but can't find the evidence any more.
After than you need campaign funds and people to help you canvass door to door.
it can cost up to £30,000 to win a seat and then you have to pay for travel to and from the constituancy. it can really mount up. most MP's infortunatly come from the professional classes or wealthy families because of the costs involved. any working class MP has to have serious backing i.e. the part behind them if they have half a chance of standing. and if you are new to this and think why not stand on a party platform . forget it. you need to have been a working party member. be well known and expect to be picked for an unwinable seat for your first campaign. you only get a chance at being selected for a safer seat if you have already had a go at winning a seat. they want to see your staying power and see how hard you work.
I forgot one thing. there are limits to what can be spent in certain areas and you need to have intimate knowledge of this. going over that limit is a criminal offence. and keep every tiny receipt.
3.
you need to be eligible
A British citizen
A citizen of the Republic of Ireland
A citizen of a commonwealth country who does not require leave to enter or remain in the UK, or has indefinite leave to remain in the UK
4.
you must not be in any other of these groups.
Members of the police forces
Members of the armed forces
Civil servants, judges and peers who sit and can vote in the House of Lords
People who are subject to a bankruptcy restrictions order or a debt relief restrictions order in England, Wales or Northern Ireland
People who have been adjudged bankrupt in Northern Ireland
People who have had their estate confiscated (sequestrated) in Scotland
5.
You will need to become a validly nominated candidate, which means your name will appear on a ballot paper. To do this you need to submit a completed set of nomination forms along with a deposit of £500 to the (Acting) Returning Officer before 4pm on the deadline day for nominations.
6.
you will need an agent. if you don't name one you become your own agent by default. your agent has various responsibilities and its a time consuming process. he or she has to organise how your campaign will run.
7.
You will need to decide what issues to stand for. not just united but other issues like corruption. health. welfare . jobs. local projects. other local issues. international policy. where you stand on arming our country. you will be asked all sorts of searching questions about where you stand on all sorts of issues. and your own personal life will be probed.
8.
you must be upstanding in the community. you don't neccessaarily have to come from that community but it would help to have links and the more the merrier.
9.
if you have a shady past. expect it to come out. someone will be digging if your starting to threaten their position. i.e. the mp who has represented the constituency in the last sitting of parliament.
10. remember that to campaign as a prospective MP for that area you have at best a slim chance even assuming your funds are going to last out. even to have an impact and get our message across will cost a lot even if we don't expect to win
11. plenty of luck.
we would all need to sit down and decide who was going to be our representative and decide the issues. and we aint all gonna agree on issues. so lets say assuming we have a chosen fan who is willing to go to the gallows and be hung drawn and quartered for the cause.
we lay out a charter for a campaign. the list is drawn up. the issues decided. we have to then back him or her to the hilt. its no good sitting back and thinking. right we have gilbert the gull standing for MP. ( a gimmik i would personally stay clear of if you are serious)
the battle lines are drawn. you have to back that candidate no matter what and also vote for that candidate even if your views are at odds with the battle plans. so if your stand in a trump like style and the candidate is a far left thinker your going to have to keep your views quiet or you will sink any chances we have.
Well thats a few musings of what campaigning is about. not all issues are covered but that is my understanding of the way things are run. if we decide to run then we have to be fairly serious about it. the locality will be most annoyed to vote in an MP or even consider voting in someone who then cuts and runs. it will look just as bad as the obvious corruption within politics at present.
P.S. I personally would use the way politics is run at present in the area and country as a whole. the public is tired of things as they are and someone running as Martin Bell did years ago will be a breath of fresh air.
and if as expected we lose but have put up a good fight. and the message really got across then the £30,000 will have been well spent.

Glostergull · Post by **Glostergull** » 19 Apr 2017, 09:56

Nick Potkins wrote: ↑19 Apr 2017, 08:39 Great idea and worth looking into. The cost needs to be checked, is this the correct amount?

It should be noted for this you get quite a lot of costs paid, including leaflets, post and alike...........

you will only get posting paid for one main campaign. i.e. if you decide to post a leaflet to every door in your constituency
the rest comes out of your pocket. or your parties pocket.

gullintwoplaces · Post by **gullintwoplaces** » 19 Apr 2017, 10:04

I'm with Merse on this. It would be an expensive waste of time, national issues will predominate as it is a national election (and I think May might regret doing it). I am in South Hams, where my vote is unlikely to count, but if I was still in Torbay I'd vote for Adrian Sanders (if he is standing again), a thoroughly decent bloke and a Torquay United fan. We should devote our energies to fighting GI.

If this was a local election I might have a different opinion.

Glostergull · Post by **Glostergull** » 19 Apr 2017, 10:07

it would be much better to support a known candidate like Adrian Sanders and ask them to investigate the issues. and make sure they are not the type to be bought off and silenced

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