How To Stand For Parliament

James Smith

@floppy / floppy.org.uk

or

The story of a

terrible

idea

Who am I?

Engineer
Parent
Activist

"in order to truly change the system, you sometimes have to become the system"

"we should get started by setting up a GitHub repository, and get collaborating on policy for a brighter future"

Step 1:

Decide to stand

Independent

or

party

In it for the long haul

Generational change

Step 2:

Get an
online
presence

Step 3:

Announce!

Step 4:

Call the
Electoral
Commission

Nomination Papers

10 signatures

£500 Deposit

get 5% of votes to get it back

Finances

Spending limits

"Long" and "short" campaign periods

Verify donors

Track expenditure

Include "notional" donations

Dates

Long Campaign	2014-12-18
Short Campaign	2015-03-30
Nominations	2015-04-09
Election Day	2015-05-07

Step 5:

Research
the data

77564 voters, 55841 votes cast

72% turnout

Step 6:

Financial
planning

Leafletting costs

one free delivery by Royal Mail

addressed or unaddressed

47300 households in EU elections

roughly £1500

Crowdfunding

Fun with the electoral
register

Step 7:

Research
the area

Local Issues

Housing development
Gatwick expansion
Fracking

Local Communities

Facebook groups
Pressure groups
Community groups
Youth groups

Step 8:

Hold a
public
meeting

10 whole people!

Meet other candidates
Verify assumptions

Step 9:

Write

What didn't I do?

assemble a team
"optimise my personal brand"
chase the media
agonise over naming

Next...?

Why bother?

Encrypt
everything!

Building
a movement

Principles

Democracy
Transparency
Liberty
Privacy
Rationality
Courage
Optimism
Equality