Chase Blount: My first election was a car crash – but I still gained from it
Trust is earned, not demanded.
Chase Blount studies at the University of Bath. She is the Deputy Chair of Torfaen Conservatives and is Chair of Libertarian Conservatives UK.
While everyone was distracted as they eagerly awaited the Gorton and Denton by-election results, I was standing around a small counting table in a polling station for Two Locks, a Welsh Cwmbran Community Council ward. Of which I was a candidate.
I thought to myself that the Reform lot were slightly too confident as they rushed to the front with their clipboards, haul of Reform merchandise, and big smiles plastered from one ear to another. But it was evident from the moment the counters tipped the ballot papers out onto the table that they had every reason to count their chickens before they hatched. I struggled to see any ballots with a mark in the Conservative box; even more worrying, I saw many in the Labour and Plaid Cymru boxes.
No way that Reform would win this, I told myself, especially since the only reason this by-election was being held: the Reform councillor, David Thomas, failed to show up to a single meeting in six months, therefore triggering grounds for vacation by the council group. Not only did he take his voters for granted, but he also cost the taxpayers around £10,000! Imagine the potholes that could be filled with that sum! How wrong was I, though? Reform won by a landslide; the results were as follows:
Plaid Cymru: 94 (16 per cent)
Conservatives: 22 (4 per cent)
Liberal Democrats: 76 (13 per cent)
Labour: 102 (17 per cent)
Reform: 290 (50 per cent)
It was humiliating! Not only were we all trounced by the party that caused this mess, but I received fewer votes than the Liberal Democrat candidate, who received 4.6% of the Torfaen parliamentary vote in 2024. Luckily, deposits aren’t a thing in these elections – otherwise I would not be getting it back!
Despite coming in last place, I left the count feeling happier than when I walked in. This is because it made me think about the benefits I gained from even being a candidate for the first time. To which there are many.
At the start, putting your name forward is a huge step, especially since I hadn’t done it before. Conversing with members of the party’s local association about my intentions and willingness to stand led to my selection as the party’s candidate. This is a huge accomplishment in itself, as it’s a statement to have the backing of a whole mainstream party and the backing of its local figures. You learn that you yourself can actually participate in one of the core pillars of Britain, its democracy, and as a younger member, it’s great to know that people of all ages can be considered, based on merit and capabilities.
Once I was the party’s nominee, it was time for bureaucracy! This in itself was such an educational …
Trust is earned, not demanded.
Chase Blount studies at the University of Bath. She is the Deputy Chair of Torfaen Conservatives and is Chair of Libertarian Conservatives UK.
While everyone was distracted as they eagerly awaited the Gorton and Denton by-election results, I was standing around a small counting table in a polling station for Two Locks, a Welsh Cwmbran Community Council ward. Of which I was a candidate.
I thought to myself that the Reform lot were slightly too confident as they rushed to the front with their clipboards, haul of Reform merchandise, and big smiles plastered from one ear to another. But it was evident from the moment the counters tipped the ballot papers out onto the table that they had every reason to count their chickens before they hatched. I struggled to see any ballots with a mark in the Conservative box; even more worrying, I saw many in the Labour and Plaid Cymru boxes.
No way that Reform would win this, I told myself, especially since the only reason this by-election was being held: the Reform councillor, David Thomas, failed to show up to a single meeting in six months, therefore triggering grounds for vacation by the council group. Not only did he take his voters for granted, but he also cost the taxpayers around £10,000! Imagine the potholes that could be filled with that sum! How wrong was I, though? Reform won by a landslide; the results were as follows:
Plaid Cymru: 94 (16 per cent)
Conservatives: 22 (4 per cent)
Liberal Democrats: 76 (13 per cent)
Labour: 102 (17 per cent)
Reform: 290 (50 per cent)
It was humiliating! Not only were we all trounced by the party that caused this mess, but I received fewer votes than the Liberal Democrat candidate, who received 4.6% of the Torfaen parliamentary vote in 2024. Luckily, deposits aren’t a thing in these elections – otherwise I would not be getting it back!
Despite coming in last place, I left the count feeling happier than when I walked in. This is because it made me think about the benefits I gained from even being a candidate for the first time. To which there are many.
At the start, putting your name forward is a huge step, especially since I hadn’t done it before. Conversing with members of the party’s local association about my intentions and willingness to stand led to my selection as the party’s candidate. This is a huge accomplishment in itself, as it’s a statement to have the backing of a whole mainstream party and the backing of its local figures. You learn that you yourself can actually participate in one of the core pillars of Britain, its democracy, and as a younger member, it’s great to know that people of all ages can be considered, based on merit and capabilities.
Once I was the party’s nominee, it was time for bureaucracy! This in itself was such an educational …
Chase Blount: My first election was a car crash – but I still gained from it
Trust is earned, not demanded.
Chase Blount studies at the University of Bath. She is the Deputy Chair of Torfaen Conservatives and is Chair of Libertarian Conservatives UK.
While everyone was distracted as they eagerly awaited the Gorton and Denton by-election results, I was standing around a small counting table in a polling station for Two Locks, a Welsh Cwmbran Community Council ward. Of which I was a candidate.
I thought to myself that the Reform lot were slightly too confident as they rushed to the front with their clipboards, haul of Reform merchandise, and big smiles plastered from one ear to another. But it was evident from the moment the counters tipped the ballot papers out onto the table that they had every reason to count their chickens before they hatched. I struggled to see any ballots with a mark in the Conservative box; even more worrying, I saw many in the Labour and Plaid Cymru boxes.
No way that Reform would win this, I told myself, especially since the only reason this by-election was being held: the Reform councillor, David Thomas, failed to show up to a single meeting in six months, therefore triggering grounds for vacation by the council group. Not only did he take his voters for granted, but he also cost the taxpayers around £10,000! Imagine the potholes that could be filled with that sum! How wrong was I, though? Reform won by a landslide; the results were as follows:
Plaid Cymru: 94 (16 per cent)
Conservatives: 22 (4 per cent)
Liberal Democrats: 76 (13 per cent)
Labour: 102 (17 per cent)
Reform: 290 (50 per cent)
It was humiliating! Not only were we all trounced by the party that caused this mess, but I received fewer votes than the Liberal Democrat candidate, who received 4.6% of the Torfaen parliamentary vote in 2024. Luckily, deposits aren’t a thing in these elections – otherwise I would not be getting it back!
Despite coming in last place, I left the count feeling happier than when I walked in. This is because it made me think about the benefits I gained from even being a candidate for the first time. To which there are many.
At the start, putting your name forward is a huge step, especially since I hadn’t done it before. Conversing with members of the party’s local association about my intentions and willingness to stand led to my selection as the party’s candidate. This is a huge accomplishment in itself, as it’s a statement to have the backing of a whole mainstream party and the backing of its local figures. You learn that you yourself can actually participate in one of the core pillars of Britain, its democracy, and as a younger member, it’s great to know that people of all ages can be considered, based on merit and capabilities.
Once I was the party’s nominee, it was time for bureaucracy! This in itself was such an educational …
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