tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post6376407961954335458..comments2024-01-23T16:53:02.428+00:00Comments on Mark Thompson: Do you have to be well off to be a parliamentary candidate?Mark Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00744387583593537268noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-20379923103594097102009-12-17T17:47:48.112+00:002009-12-17T17:47:48.112+00:00Most of the costs that made up the sums quoted wer...Most of the costs that made up the sums quoted were lost income and/or opportunity costs rather than hard cash. Running a serious campaign in a target seat means some people have to give up a full time job and/or downsize their career. This takes place over 2 to 3 years and mounts up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-32912855452195679802009-12-16T11:37:26.820+00:002009-12-16T11:37:26.820+00:00I hope these aren't quite right... Otherwise I...I hope these aren't quite right... Otherwise I'm screwed.<br /><br />Though I did just get promoted to a new, better paid job, despite the candidacy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-74817951232346237682009-12-16T10:33:00.403+00:002009-12-16T10:33:00.403+00:00I am a Labour PPC (Castle Point). My first point w...I am a Labour PPC (Castle Point). My first point would be that I would guess expenditure would depend on how winnable a seat is. This is my second campaign, and both have been in Tory strongholds. In 2005 my guess is that I donated something like £500 to the campaign. This time around it has been less. There is a 'PPC tax' in that you feel obliged to attend fundraisers, buy the raffle tickets, etc, and attend all sorts of party functions. The biggest cost to me has been in time. Aside from using holiday, a lot of spare time is donated.<br /><br />I cannot spend the sort of money quote in your article, and would refuse to do so even if I could afford it. Perhaps I am not desperate enough to get elected.Julian Ware-Lanehttp://warelane.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-10487976070084717472009-12-15T23:44:22.577+00:002009-12-15T23:44:22.577+00:00Hi Mark, you might be interested in this research ...Hi Mark, you might be interested in this research that Will Straw of Left Foot Forward fame did to provide a bit more background about candidate selection to help Progress' campaign to introduce primaries. It found that 71 per cent of Labour’s current batch of prospective candidates spent under<br />£250 on their selection campaigns, 12 per cent spent over £750. Unsurprisingly, the amount<br />spent varied hugely from constituency to constituency, according to Labour’s relative<br />political position. In Labour seats, up to £4,000 was spent by candidates with an average (median) spend of £500. In non-Labour seats, up to £3,000 was spent but the average (median) was just £50.6 The average (median) overall was £90.<br />http://clients.squareeye.com/uploads/prog/documents/Labour%20PPCs%20research%20pdf.pdf<br /><br />But we didn't ask people to include transport costs, or the costs of relocating, or time lost through taking time off work. I reckon if we'd asked for these amounts, it would be a lot higher. Just from experience of people going for selection, even in unwinnables, there's lots of unavoidable expenditure.Jessica Asatohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02441905380418678806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-73361363898506086912009-12-15T23:17:54.237+00:002009-12-15T23:17:54.237+00:00Are those figures mean median or modal averages? T...Are those figures mean median or modal averages? There are one or two rich candidates like Zac around who could seriously skew these results.Gregnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-31066880224210295312009-12-15T18:48:12.736+00:002009-12-15T18:48:12.736+00:00Mark
an interesting issue, of course no one can c...Mark<br /><br />an interesting issue, of course no one can calculate the opportunity cost of being considered a bad risk by employers as a candidate and even afterwards. This is also true for councillors. I wonder how many employers see people being actively involved in politics as a problem (as opposed say to other voluntary work or being active in a church). In this country politicians are held in low esteem and therefore 'coming out' as an activist can have unforeseen and incalculable impacts on ones career.<br /><br />When I was a councillor I knew it would be almost impossible to get promotion, within months of retiring I was running a national charity.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com