Thursday 14 April 2011

Alis Balance - The Election Blog 2011

Alis is the lead Scottish Green Party candidate for the South of Scotland.

Saturday: Street stall in Castle Douglas. Very encouraging responses - it's always a good omen when, as you put up the "Vote Green" board, someone comes up to ask a political question - before anything else has been put on the table. A busy little town, beautiful warm, sunny day, and the stall is constantly busy with people coming round to chat. Quite a few even pick up a poster to put in their front windows. A day like this reminds you that campaigns can be fun.

Which is more than Sunday does. BBC Borders have contacted the Greens for a panellist for their pre-record radio hustings, so we drive almost two hours to Melrose, only to find they've made a mistake, "BBC Regulations" don't allow them to have List candidates - indeed List candidates aren't even allowed to sit in the audience, far less ask questions. A reminder of how much the BBC, and other media powers, are stacked against smaller parties, and why politics continues to be more of the same - those wanting anything different literally don't get a share of the mic. Back to sign the online petition to try and persuade the Beeb to let Patrick Harvie take part in the leader's debates. Why are we excluded when current opinion polls suggest our List vote is higher than the Lib/Dems?

Monday: back to the never-ending stream of emails there's 150 people out there wanting to know our policy on different issues, and I'm trying to tell them all before the baby wakes up from his afternoon nap. And a handful of organisations like the Scottish Independence Convention. Thank you. Opinion polls show that I'm on the edge of getting elected - every Green vote is going to count in this election. 

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