Application to be a Liberal Democrat candidate

Questions

Answers

1

Please give your name

2

Please give your address

3

Are you registered to vote at this address?

4

Please give the phone numbers which you are willing for us to use to contact you about this application

5

What is the best e-mail address to use to contact you

6

When did you first join the Liberal Democrats?

[There are no penalties for joining recently - Rugby Liberal Democrats are looking forward to seeing some of our new members stand in the next round of local elections.]

7

What were your main reasons for joining the Liberal Democrats?

8

Which local party are you a member of?

(We expect that most applicants will be a member of the Rugby party)

9

Please give your membership number

(If you can't find this we can look this up if you are a member of the Rugby party)

10

When is your renewal date? (If you can't find this we can look this up if you are a member of the Rugby party)

11

Which Liberal Democrat policies (nationally or locally) do you disagree with? Candidates are not expected to agree with the complete manifesto but we do want to find out now if there is anything which might cause an embarrassing "split" later on.

12

Are you looking to stand in the local elections because:

(a) You are looking to help the local party by "flying the flag" in the local elections.

(b) You are looking to put the spade work in so that your chosen ward will in time elect Liberal Democrat councillors

(c) You want to be a councillor in the next couple of years

13

If you want to stand in the Rugby Borough Council elections in 2016 give the name of your first preference ward and give the name of your second preference [if you are not chosen for your first preference].

14

If you want to stand in the Warwickshire County Council elections in 2017 give the name of your first preference electoral division and give the name of your second preference [if you are not chosen for your first preference]

15

Say why you have chosen these wards/electoral divisions eg "I live there"; "I feel passionately about the nature reserve there"; "It offers the best prospect for my being elected"

16

Have you ever stood in a competitive election?

(Everyone has to have a first time. Please don't feel restricted to local elections. For example you might have fought an election to be a student union officer).

17

Have you ever been involved in a campaign?

(Everyone has to have a first time. Think widely about what you might have been involved in.)

18

What would you hope to achieve if you were elected. A short answer is acceptable if you went for option (a) in question 12.

19

How much time would you be willing to give per week to your campaign:

(a) Outside the election period

(b) During the election period

If you went for option (a) in answer to question 12 it is acceptable to answer "I am not expecting to spend more than 12 hours in total on my campaign".

20

Are you willing to campaign outside your chosen ward/electoral division?

(We hope you will answer "yes" but "no" is an acceptable answer).

21

Do you have any special skills that might be helpful during the election campaign eg website designer; photographer; journalist; housing expert; traffic expert; social security expert.

(you don't need any special skills to stand but it would be good to know if you have any).

22

Which were the last three Liberal Democrat events you went to?

(If you are a new member you may not yet have had time to go to three events).

23

Please confirm you have an internet connection and can read word and excel documents.

(It is difficult to keep in touch if you have not).

24

Do you have social media accounts eg facebook, twitter? If so is there anything politically embarrassing on them? [It is not politically embarrassing to have had a fling with a boy band member - but if you have made derogatory remarks about groups of people, or trolled individuals, it could very well be politically embarrassing].

25

Have you ever been a member of another political party?

26

Are there any matters which might cause political embarrassment if they became known during the election?

27

If you were elected would you join the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors?

28

If you were elected would you be prepared to abide by the Liberal Democrat group's standing orders? (The two most important standing orders are that you give prior notice if you intend to vote against the party-line on an issue and that you tithe about 10% of your councillor's allowances to the Liberal Democrat Group's funds).

29

Are there any matters about which you would like to have a confidential discussion with the approval panel?