Not all of the news on the campaign trail is good

On Saturday morning in Mill Hill Broadway. There's revolution in the air. The previous Saturday there was an air of euphoria, with many people coming up and congratulating us on Nick Cleggs surprise victory in the Leadership debate. The atmosphere was different this week. The polls have gone up and stayed up. Rather than euphoric congratulation, people were asking serious questions, raising real issues and telling us that they were on side. Of course not everyone in Mill Hill like the Lib Dems. Amongst the anti mob, there is also a hardening of attitudes. If you are an irrelevence everyone is nice to you. Until last week that was the case. There was a massive dollop of poison dumped on the Lib Dems in the week, so it was inevitable that this would affect some people. As I've spoken to many people on the doorstep and on the street, I can tell you how this has worked. The people who really hated the Lib Dems now hate us even more and they have better ammunition with which to be rude to us. The people in the middle who may or may not vote for us have read this and are really keen to discuss the issues raised. As a candidate for council, this works massively in my favour. As people want to talk to me, I can get the message across.

Another thing which I haven't anticipated is the number of people I've told on the doorstep to read my blog if they wanted to find out about my views. Quite a few came up to me on Saturday morning and congratulated me. That is nice. They asked why the local press didn't cover local issues in such depth. They were amazed at how many issues they'd never heard of. There was one piece of news which absolutely gutted me. I bumped into an old footballing friend, who played in several teams I've played in over the years. He told me he had Kidney cancer and it had spread. He was on an experimental drug and was hoping it would stop the cancer in it's tracks. My friend is not a shrinking violet, he's one of the most full of life people I've ever known. As we chatted, he announced to everyone who passed "Vote for this guy, he's the man". I pondered the fact that he'd make a great politician, a man of great charm, personality and charisma. Barnet Council needs dynamic people who are not stuffed shirts. I've long been of the opinion that it's too full of pomp and ceremony and that puts the man on the street off. If I get in on May 6th, I am going to dedicate the next 4 years to trying to get local people involved and local people making a difference. One of my Lib Dem colleagues joked that following my run in with theMayor last year, if the Lib Dems win, I'd make a great Mayor. Should that happen the first thing I'd do is sell they Mayoral Limo and the second thing I'd do is sell the Mayoral chain. I'd give the money raised to local sports clubs, to help get young people into healthy lifestyles. I asked why the Mayor needs a limo "So when he attends a function, he can have a drink and get taken home". If I decide to get pissed at the public expense, then it isn't work, it's pleasure and I'll pay my own busfare home. We need to make the council work for the people of Barnet and get rid of all of the indulging of public servants.

I hope that in four years time, my good friend is out on the Broadway telling everyone I'm still the man for two reasons - firstly because I pray to god he survives that long and secondly because I hope I've proven his faith in me to be justified. God bless you Gummsy !