The Year of the Candidate?
by Ieuan Môn Williams
There are so many ways to describe being a candidate, which makes it hard to give a direct answer to the most asked question I’ve had all year: “What’s it like being a Parliamentary candidate?”. Needless to say, I still haven’t perfected an answer, but I’ll let you in on some of my insights. Being a candidate is amazing. It’s also daunting, weird, stressful, scary and unpredictable. But it’s also a privilege, an honour and one hell of a responsibility.
I’ve always been the kind of guy who works behind the scenes. Working for the MP, writing the speeches, arranging the meetings, never really looking for the limelight. Changing this mentality is very much easier said than done.
The build-up to the next election is like no other, simply because we have the most visible, and therefore most accessible, cohort of Parliamentary candidates in British political history. With this comes significant expectations, including maintaining a constant social media presence, and establishing yourself on the doorstep with an electorate which isn’t exactly in an election mindset, all while trying to keep some semblance of work/life/campaign balance.
They say you shouldn’t do all the big life events too close together, but in the last 18 months I got married, was selected as a PPC, changed jobs and became a father. So it’s safe to say I don’t do anything in half measures.
Yet, when it comes to the biggest challenge facing all candidates, it is undoubtedly dealing with the uncertainty of when the election will be held. The rumour mill abounds with talk of snap elections, May elections, autumn and winter elections etc… It’s not even a certainty as to who will lead the Conservative Party into it.
In all likelihood, there will be a General Election in 2024. Unless, of course, the Prime Minister decides to hold on to the bitter end of January 2025, but nobody wants to be knocking doors and delivering leaflets in zero-degree weather. Mind you, they said that when Mr Johnson floated the idea of calling one for December 2019. So perhaps now is the time to invest in some good (and bright red) winter clothing.
How does one grow momentum for a campaign without an end date? Work towards an ever-moving finish-line? How then do you even allocate campaign funds over an unknown time period? It is hard to make a plan for an undetermined end point, and even harder to stick to it when the political backdrop is ever changing.
Friends and confidants will tell you it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Yet, in reality, it’s both.
You wouldn’t have expected Usain Bolt or Mo Farah to arrive at the London Olympics ready to compete in their own, and the other’s, disciplines - yet this is what it feels like is needed. The marathon of the long campaign, building up a support base, raising funds, getting my face out there; and the sprint of the short campaign, more focussed on ensuring the key messages are clearly communicated and that every person has had the opportunity to meet me as the candidate. The last thing you want is to get to polling day thinking “if only I’d done more”.
The trial of being a candidate is keeping the campaign fresh while also hammering home your message. Yet, by the time you’re sick to the back teeth of your own lines, you’re only just at the point where they’re starting to get through to voters.
Everything is a balancing act; making enough time to campaign while earning enough to pay the mortgage; knowing when to raise the big issues that you really care about without looking like an opportunist; thinking about which platform suits which element of your campaign; the list goes on - except to say that I’m definitely not going anywhere near TikTok…
The problem is that we care. Probably too much. Which in itself makes candidates reticent to make important decisions, in fear of making the wrong one. I care about the Island on which I grew up. I care about my family. I care about the futures of all my cousins, and the children they are now having. I care about Ynys Môn having a representative who has a strong voice within the Government of the day. I care about inward investment, bringing meaningful and longterm opportunities. I care about creating a prosperous new chapter for my constituency and the country, where nobody is left behind.
Despite the challenges of being a PPC, one thing’s for sure: I know I’m putting myself and my family through it all for the right reasons.
Ieuan Môn Williams is an adviser at 5654 & Company, and the Labour Party’s Parliamentary Candidate for Ynys Môn.