Campaign Blog

Well the election period is well and truly under way, so I thought I'd blog a campaign trail diary about my experiences. I'm running for council in Castlereagh South for the Green Party and I'm an active part of the South Belfast Green's Vote Clare Bailey on the 5th May team, in support of our MLA candidate.

I took a childcare break just over two years ago to have the Shugmeister and while I've been keeping myself busy with writing, blogging and bits and pieces in addition to motherhood, these past few months have really seen my involvement with the Green Party in Northern Ireland step up a pace. The whole thing is proving to be a complicated, interesting, difficult, yet amazingly fulfilling process. I hope that what I write is of interest to those politicos out there, but also to other parents who are looking to share experiences with trying to manage childcare and other commitments.

Mummy Management


Thursday 24th March 2011


I've had to invest in a hand bag. After years of being able to fit everything into well organised pockets, the work load is now too much. So after picking one up and realising my life could have been much simpler had I decided to do this earlier (nappy bag doesn't count as it filled to the brim with baby stuff), I'm off to meet the representative for the Big Lunch. I will be holding a pool on just how long it takes me to loose the new bag as I'm not used to carrying something around with me.

The meeting is very informative, such a great idea and due to it's change of date (from July to June) can now be enjoyed by more people in N. Ireland. The idea that communities can come together for a lunch, dinner or picnic is a great one, and the Green Party are throwing their full support behind it. The South Belfast Greens are holding an event in the Ormeau Rd area and we've two more planned in East Belfast and Castlereagh.

The evening is spent meeting up with the SB Greens and doing some door to door in The Kimberly & Walden Street areas off the Ormeau. It's a good night, people seem genuinely interested in hearing the alternatives on offer - a combination of being fed up with the status quo here and very much to counter balance the actions of the ConDems across the water.

Clare Bailey and I chat afterwards about the getting the balance right between the increased workload of campaign season and our respective families. Clare has two older children and a job to contend with - I have a toddler but no job, so we've been comparing war stories. We both acknowledge that the next few weeks will require us to be a little more selfish; certainly from my point of view I know I've been relying on childcare coverage from my husband and sister more than usual. I have a funny feeling that post May 5th, I'll be the nominated baby sitter for all subsequent big events.

Friday 25th March

Preparing press releases for the bulk of the morning and checking in with our social media accounts. Far too tired to stay awake for Question Time last night, so checking up on the tweets for that. The tweets are probably more insightful and definitely more amusing than the show itself, but hopefully I'll get it watched on i-player at some point.

The wee man's on good form, though is conscious of my absence for most of yesterday and is being clingy. I make him breakfast and sit playing blocks with him until he gets sick of the sight of me and danders off to partake in his favourite past time - pouring juice from his cup into all manner of other containers, and making a bloody mess.

In the afternoon I'm off to Queen's to launch the Green Party's Big Lunch with Mark Simpson and Clare Bailey, which you can read more about here. We're promoting the local produce aspect and Clare's raffle of 20 bags of horse manure for grow your own purposes. As a result I have to carry a shovel on the bus with me. Do I look like a keen gardener or a serial killer? I'm in my suit, so I'm going to opt for serial killer.

The photos are being taken at the same time as QUB and the residents of the Holylands are launching their lunch. We don't intrude as they don't want to politicise the event too much. However, the cameras attract the attention of a candidate from another party who is in the area putting up posters. He danders over, clearly not knowing what the event is about and muscles in on a few photos. He then has the audacity to ask the organisers how long this is going to take, as he's very busy. He attempts to sit down with the students and residents and enjoy a free meal, but is promptly told to skoot.

Afterwards I re-group with Clare and go over our respective schedules for the next few weeks. It's clear that my sister is going to own me before long, perhaps I'll offer her a kidney in exchange for all the help I'm getting from her.

Saturday 26th March

Big day. Canvassing in the Pottinger Ward on behalf of council candidate Dave Newman and Clare. It's a gorgeous day and we get a good few responses. I talk to one retired gentleman in who is sitting in his garden surrounded by pots and plants - he's a grow your own man himself and I realise that I have really failed to get my own garden in gear this year. Might have to just concentrate on a herb garden.

Then off to the city centre with the rest of the NI Greens to march in the anti-cuts rally. NI is one of the most public sector reliant areas in the UK, and the people over here have been campaigning long and hard to bring their pay in line with the rest of the country. Cuts in this area will be devastating for far too many reasons to go into fully here, but there simply isn't the investment in private industry to pick up the slack when people find themselves out of work. The Green New Deal would be a perfect way to redress the balance if only more politicians would take the matter seriously; instead it's a convenient means of greening out their portfolio in the run up to elections. It would make NI more self sustaining, unlike the cut in corporation tax which will only ensure private enterprise loyalty providing no one else makes them a better offer.

It's a good afternoon, peaceful, and I'd say almost double the turn out compared to the same rally in November (the weather probably didn't hurt the cause either). The only thing that soured it slightly was this overheard conversation between a spectating mother and her child:

Mother: "That's a parade, but not a good one"
Child: "What they marching for?"
Mother: "I dunno."

After that I meet up with D and the Shugmeister for a picnic in the grounds of City Hall, then home for a relaxing low tech Earth Hour evening.

Sleazy come, sleazy go.

The real sleaze behind Iris Robinson's downfall is not the tabloid titillation, but the non disclosure of business and personal interest. But can we really expect transparency from a politician whose party opposes the notion at every turn?

Lost among the endless column inches dedicated to the exposure of Iris Robinson's affair with Kirk McCambley was the initial fact that Mrs Robinson helped raise some £50,000 in investment funds on McCambley's behalf which she did not declare to either Westminster or Stormont, and failed to disclose her personal interest when Castlereagh Council awarded him a cafe lease. It's perhaps not that surprising really, Mrs Robinson outspoken comments on morality issues, in particular her opinions on homosexuality meant that her extra martial activities were seized upon. But following the Public Prosecution Services decision last week not to bring charges against her, one would be forgiven for thinking that the real political issue has been swept aside amidst the personal life gossip and speculation.

The PPS does not go into detail as to why charges are not being brought and there is still an Assembly Standards investigation outstanding, but whatever the legal outcome there remains the issue of a serious breach of trust between Mrs Robinson and the constituents of Castlereagh who expect their council representatives to declare invested interests in the awarding of licences, tenders and leases. At the time the Council itself saw criticism levelled at it for its slow and limited online publication of council minutes - had anyone known of the existing relationship between Robinson and McCombley, could they have raised objections to the award if details of council meetings been more readily available? For a couple of weeks, clarity and scrutiny in local authority dealings became topic de jour, unfortunately this was mostly in the independent and freelance writing sphere, from online bloggers and in political forums, as much more attention was paid by newspapers and mainstream media to the 'sex scandal' aspect.

But is the now resigned Mrs Robinson's behaviour merely a symptom of a culture of non disclosure that has infected certain areas of NI politics? Though no longer a member of the DUP, while in office Iris Robinson was arguably the poster girl for the party; a long standing councillor before becoming MLA and MP, married to the First Minister and mother of party member. The criticism she and her husband faced during the expenses scandal admittedly damaged this reputation somewhat and later her non disclosure of funds and interest would most certainly have been condemned, but her affair made a far more convenient objection, deflecting from the obvious question of how do you protest against one woman's failure to volunteer personal interest, if she represents a party that refuses to publish it's own party donations, and therein, its own vested interests.

In January this year the DUP, along with the SDLP and UUP, openly moved to preserve for a further two years, the current legislation that conceals the public identity of party donors and lenders. Transparency it seems is not something that should be led by example. While we cannot cast any aspersions as to donors and subsequent decision making by party representatives, we cannot have open, clean politics until donations are declared. There is even a substantial argument that you cannot have impartiality until business donations are taken out of the equation all together. In the meantime though, I'd just be happy to see the books opened and let the public decide whether the decision making process for tenders is as fair and honest as it should be. One woman's marriage indiscretions simply won't provide a long term smokescreen on this issue...

Wacko Nuts and Cyclepaths

Just days after writing about some inspirational women in environmental politics, I read about the current law case being brought against the city of New York by a group of residents opposed to a bicycle lane in a wealthy area of Brooklyn. The case raises objections to the creation of a segregated two way cycle lane in the area in 2010, and claims that the city mislead residents about the benefits of the lane and safety statistics, while working with bicycle activists to silence local opposition. That the path reduces resident parking, restricts views of the park and could adversely affect property prices I imagine is on people's minds, if not their court documents. 


But what struck me about the subsequent reporting was not the environmental issue, or even the social aspect (the practice of taking road space from motorists to give to cyclists and pedestrians has been labelled a 'Robin Hood' practice), no, what is noticeable is the particular focus on Janette Sadik Khan, NYC Transport Commissioner, and the women responsible for the recent cycling initiatives in New York that have previously been lauded for improving cyclist and pedestrian safety, time efficiency and adding to the general worker mobility of money areas such as Wall Street. 


As others have highlighted, the action against the city has started to take a very personal tone. While the case in question calls for the removal of a single cycle lane, reporters and opposition groups have been quick to jump on the idea that this is a long over due backlash against Khan. Reporting, in particular from the New York Times, has focussed on her personality and management style, speculating about her 'brusque, I-know-best style and a reluctance to compromise' as well her aggressive attitude. One wonders if these aspects of character would have been so freely commented upon if Khan had been a man, and even then, would that have been seen as entirely negative. And that's before we even get to the undignified comments of gossip columnist Cindy Adams which refer to Khan as a 'wacko nutso'.


But this is hardly the first time that a women in high public office has seen objections about her politics turn personal, and in some cases overtly sexist in tone. Sarah Palin faced high levels of criticism during the 2008 election, much of it turned personal (yeah, that's politics for you, regardless of gender, I'm not that naive), but some of it turned sexist and sexual. Huffington Post contributor and screen writer Michael Steitzman in his insightful 'Sarah Palin Naked' article stated 'She's really is kinda hot. Basically, I want to have sex with her on my Barack Obama sheets while my wife reads aloud from the Constitution.' C'mon people, Palin's politics alone should be enough to ridicule her, there's no need for that, or the photoshopped bikini pictures, or the Palin porno for that matter.


At the moment Khan's critics have focussed on attitude rather than sexuality, yet the fact that the argument has shifted away from the issue and onto the public servant either speaks volumes for the weight of the original argument or reveals more about the growing resentment towards Khan. Is it personal? It is certainly starting to look that way. Is it gender related? Perhaps not across the board, but some inherent attitudes seem incapable of distinguishing between the woman and the job she holds.



Image: Rawich / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

International Women's Day: Women in the Business

In honour of International Women's Day, today's post focusses on women in environmental politics and social campaigning. Of course they're working hard every day, but it doesn't hurt to take a few moments today to give them some much deserved kudos.


When I was studying politics some years ago I came across a worrying statistic that showed that women in Ireland were proportionally less represented in elected politicians than The Sudan. Yep, you read that right, The Sudan. That was some years ago and from what I can remember represented only the ROI, but it was still a shocking figure. Have things improved much? Last months ROI elections saw 24 women elected to the Dail, two more than 2007, but that is out of a possible 166 seats. Ireland still trail behind The Sudan, Kazakhstan and Iraq in world league tables. Here in N.Ireland representation isn't much better, with 18 female MLAs elected to Stormont in 2007, a paltry 16% of the total seats.

Of course there are some great female politicians and candidates, victories in 2010 Westminster elections for the likes of the Alliance Party's Naomi Long, against First Minister Peter Robinson no less, and Sinn Fein's Michelle Gildernew in the tightly contested Fermanagh seat, prove that female politicians can do the business come voting time, and it may be simply a case of ensuring that more women are encouraged to stand. In this year's Local Assembly Election's I'm extra pleased that the environmental option in South Belfast lies with the Green Party's Clare Bailey (pictured). I'll set my impartiality aside for a moment and state that I've been canvassing with Clare in recent months and I can safely say that my vote has never been in better hands.


Of course a great deal of political involvement starts at school or university, and I'm also please to say that the QUB Feminist Society is now up and running as an active society for students in Belfast. Recognition should go to co-chairs Ashleigh Simpson and Judith McGimpsey for making such head way in recent months.


Finally I'd just like to highlight three inspirational women who have influenced me in their politics, dedication and commitment to eco and female issues:

Caroline Lucas: The first English Green Party MP on her election last May, Caroline Lucas's leadership of the party over the past three years, and eleven year stint in the European Parliament, have seen the profile and image of eco concious politics in the UK raised significantly. She's also done more than her fair share for women, campaigning on issues of domestic violence, breast cancer, sexual health and maternal care.

http://www.carolinelucas.com/cl.html

Petra Kelly: Instrumental in the creation and development of  Die Grünen, her tragic murder in 1992 may have meant that she never fulfilled her full potential, but what she did manage in her life was extraordinary and she is truly as inspiration and role model to environmentalists across the globe, male and female alike. 

Harriet Lamb: As Executive Director of the UK Fairtrade Foundation, I guess Ms Lamb is having a busy time of at at the minute as we're right in the middle of Fairtrade Fortnight (check out Fairtrade Pancake recipe of Greensheen Kitchen). She is also the author of Fighting the Banana Wars and Other Fairtrade Battles, which is available via Amazon.