With three days to go until polling day in what is likely to be the tightest and most unpredictable election in living memory, my thoughts go out to all candidates and their campaign teams as they approach the big day. They also extend to the electors, especially in highly marginal constituencies, who will have been bombarded by canvassers on the doorstep, leaflets, direct mail, telephone calls, emails, and adverts.
Due to professional and personal circumstances, I have been less involved in this campaign than any since my first general election, twenty-eight years ago in 1987, when I was all of fifteen. I still carry the happy (and sad) memories of those elections and of the challenges that I know candidates will be facing today as they enter the final days of campaigning.
So this blog post is principally a message of good luck to my friends, colleagues, and those I don’t know well but simply respect, across a range of political parties who are candidates on Thursday. Some of them will win, others will not, in certain cases leaving the House of Commons after years of dedicated service to their local communities.
In particular, I am very much hoping to see the following elected, re-elected, or just do as well as they possibly can on Thursday:
- The Rt Hon Danny Alexander (LD, Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey) *
- Sir David Amess (Con, Southend West) *
- Stuart Andrew (Con, Pudsey) *
- Elaine Bagshaw (LD, Poplar and Limehouse)
- The Rt Hon Norman Baker (LD, Lewes) *
- The Rt Hon John Bercow (Speaker, Buckingham) *
- Crispin Blunt (Con, Reigate) *
- The Lady (Victoria) Borwick AM (Con, Kensington)
- Sir Peter Bottomley (Con, Worthing) *
- Steve Bradley (LD, Bath)
- James Brokenshire (Con, Old Bexley and Sidcup) *
- Belinda Brooks-Gordon (LD, Cities of London & Westminster)
- Michael Bukola (LD, Lewisham Deptford)
- Conor Burns (Con, Bournemouth West) *
- The Rt Hon Alistair Burt (Con, North East Bedfordshire) *
- Lorely Burt (LD, Solihull) *
- The Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable (LD, Twickenham) *
- Ruth Cadbury (Lab, Brentford and Isleworth)
- The Rt Hon Alistair Carmichael (LD, Orkney and Shetland) *
- The Rt Hon Nick Clegg (LD, Sheffield Hallam) *
- James Cleverly AM (Con, Braintree)
- Gloria De Piero (Lab, Ashfield) *
- Charlie Dewhirst (Con, Hammersmith)
- Thomas Docherty (Lab, Dunfermline and West Fife) *
- Jackie Doyle-Price (Con, Thurrock) *
- Angela Eagle (Lab, Wallasey) *
- Clive Efford (Lab, Eltham)*
- Jane Ellison (Con, Battersea) *
- Charlie Elphicke (Con, Dover) *
- Nigel Evans (Con, Ribble Valley) *
- Alex Feakes (LD, Lewisham West and Penge)
- The Rt Hon Lynne Featherstone (LD, Hornsey & Wood Green) *
- The Rt Hon Mark Field (Con, Cities of London and Westminster) *
- Jim Fitzpatrick (Lab, Poplar and Limehouse) *
- Mike Freer (Con, Finchley and Golders Green) *
- Andrew George (LD, St Ives) *
- Stephen Gilbert (LD, St Austell & Newquay) *
- Stephen Glenn (LD, Sedgfield)
- Julia Goldsworthy (LD, Camborne and Redruth)
- Helen Grant (Con, Maidstone and The Weald) *
- Kate Green OBE (Lab, Stretford & Urmston) *
- Robert Halfon (Con, Harlow) *
- Duncan Hames (LD, Chippenham) *
- Daniel Hamilton (Con, Stockport)
- Sir Nick Harvey (LD, North Devon) *
- The Rt Hon John Healey (Lab, Wentworth and Dearne) *
- John Hemming (LD, Birmingham Yardley) *
- Martin Horwood (LD, Cheltenham) *
- The Rt Hon Simon Hughes (LD, Bermondsey and Old Southwark) *
- Mark Hunter (LD, Cheadle) *
- Dr Julian Huppert (LD, Cambridge) *
- Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett (LD, Vauxhall)
- Margot James (Con, Stourbridge) *
- Dan Jarvis MBE (Lab, Barnsley Central) *
- The Rt Hon Sajid Javid (Con, Bromsgrove) *
- The Rt Hon Charles Kennedy (LD, Ross, Skye, and Lochaber) *
- The Rt Hon Norman Lamb (LD, North Norfolk)
- The Rt Hon David Laws (LD, Yeovil)
- John Leech (LD, Manchester Withington) *
- Charlotte Leslie (Con, Bristol North West) *
- Clive Lewis (Lab, Norwich South)
- Dr Julian Lewis (Con, New Forest East)
- Ivan Lewis (Lab, Bury South) *
- Stephen Lloyd (LD, Eastbourne) *
- Naomi Long (Alliance, Belfast North) *
- Caroline Lucas (Green, Brighton Pavillion) *
- Ian Luder CBE (UKIP, South Basildon and East Thurrock)
- Karen Lumley (Con, Redditch) *
- Kit Malthouse AM (Con, North West Hampshire)
- Jason McCartney (Con, Colne Valley) *
- Penny Mordaunt (Con, Portsmouth North) *
- Tessa Munt (LD, Wells) *
- The Rt Hon Jim Murphy (Lab, East Renfrewshire) *
- Bob Neill (Con, Bromley and Chislehurst) *
- Zoe O’Connell (LD, Maldon)
- Eric Ollerenshaw OBE (Con, Lancaster and Fleetwood) *
- Dave Page (LD, Manchester Gorton)
- Andrew Pakes (Lab, Milton Keynes South)
- Chris Pincher (Con, Tamworth) *
- Steve Reed OBE (Lab, Croydon North) *
- Andrew Rosindell (Con, Romford) *
- Sir Bob Russell (LD, Colchester) *
- Terry Stacy MBE (LD, Islington South & Finsbury)
- Andrew Stephenson (Con, Pendle) *
- Wes Streeting (Lab, Ilford North)
- Jo Swinson (LD, East Dunbartonshire) *
- Sharon Taylor OBE (Lab, Stevenage)
- Dorothy Thornhill MBE (LD, Watford)
- The Rt Hon Viscount Thurso (LD, Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) *
- Edward Timpson (Con, Crewe and Nantwich) *
- Stephen Twigg (Lab, Liverpool West Derby) *
- Gerald Vernon-Jackson (LD, Portsmouth South)
- Tom Watson (Lab, West Bromwich East) *
- John Whittingdale OBE (Con, Maldon) *
- Mari Williams (Lab, Cardiff North)
- Stephen Williams (LD, Bristol West) *
- Jenny Willott (LD, Cardiff Central) *
* = seeking re-election
Given the diversity of political opinions featured amongst this very eclectic list (LD 39, Con 34, Lab 18, Speaker 1, Green 1, Alliance 1, UKIP 1), I clearly don’t agree with or support the political viewpoints of everyone on it, indeed with some I significantly disagree. However, in each case I respect their integrity and their commitment to public service.
Finally, a thought for the hard working returning officers and their staff in polling stations and at counts throughout the United Kingdom, without whom the election couldn’t happen. Good luck ad thank you to them.
[There is bound to be someone I know well whom I will have managed to leave off the list in error, in which case, many apologies!]
