UCL Conservative Society

It is difficult to gauge the quality of a particular campaign day until the ballot boxes are opened and the raw voting data is available, but for three reasons the UCL team that blitzed Dunchurch on Saturday can consider what they achieved succesful:

1. The canvass returns are better this year than last
2. The Association Chariman, who saw us all out, rang me to wax lyrical about the enthusiasm and dynamism of the team.
3. Two members of the team were abused by the vilest of creatures: double glazing salesmen.

In the sunshine, Dunchurch received the attention of 8 UCL Tories, an MP and a senior Councillor. The whole village of a not inconsiderable 1400 residences was canvassed and there cannot have been many voters who didn’t see a blue rosette.

Every member of the team contributed. Eamonn showed us his remarkable knack for tracking down Socialists in an area where Labour received only 5.6% of the vote last year; Christian demonstrated an ability to charm the birds from the trees; Tatiana was adored by everyone who met her on the doorstep and was often found engaged in deep conversation with a resident; Iain offered endless enthusiam, constantly encouraging me to allow us to canvass a few more houses before we stopped; Stuart offered Dunchurch a taste of Mr ‘Middle Class’ in his own inimitable style; Laura showed organisational prowess, a dedication to the cause (especially if DC was mentioned) and stoicism in the face of Luca, who offered humour, inappropriateness and an ability to get lost in the mean streets of Dunchurch.

During the day we were pleased to meet Jeremy Wright MP who gave us an informal pub talk on issues ranging from the leadership and immigration to April Fools pranks. We were also joined by Cllr Bill Shields, a senior Councillor who was, as ever, charming, funny and knowledgable. He likened Gordon Brown to Philip II of Spain - we wondered whether this comparison would feature on future Tory literature.

I end by thanking the people who gave up a Saturday before exams to help me. I offer special thanks to Christian Waterfield for driving to Warwickshire - without such genrosity the day could not have happened. Christian is a tremendous asset to the society and we should be grateful he is a Conservative.

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