My First Ever Political Speech

By TOMMY HOLGATE

Notes taken . . . trimming your spiel into 180 seconds means little room for waffle

Tonight, Friday 17 April, I shall be delivering my first ever political speech to a hustings event organised by a series of local campaign groups including CND and Save The NHS.

Due to a massive panel in 2010, when a number of independent candidates and small parties stood, the debate itself will remain between the four big parties.

I have, however, been given 3 minutes to say what I want at the end of questions, prior to each candidate's wrap-up statement.

And I think it will go something like this:

"I am thankful for this opportunity to bring the word 'Peace' into political discussion.

I read a Dalai Lama quote the other day...

That 'without inner peace, it's impossible to have world peace'.

Then Lao Tzu said:

If there is to be in the world, there must be peace in the nations.

If there to be peace in the nations, there must be peace in the cities.

If there is to be peace in the cities, there must be peace between neighbours.

If there is to be peace between neighbours, there must be peace in the home.

If there is to be peace in the home, there must be peace in the heart.

Following Lao's chain backwards up to the top, we can see the link between pursuing a peaceful existence in our personal life, and the possibility of a planet living in harmony.

Perhaps much like yourselves, I'm still trying to achieve it in my personal life, but with the knowledge that the more I acknowledge peace as more than just a word on a flag at Glastonbury, and something that can be present more in our day-to-day lives.

That's why I've moved home after a decade working in the media in London so that I can settle and spread a positive message in the local community - via a series of creative means.

I've got a job teaching tai chi at the local leisure centre, but can't start until after the election - or indeed if elected - as being a Councillor and working for the Council do not go together.

So, if elected, I would like to offer free tai chi and dance classes at the weekends.

I wasn't going to 'go into politics' for another 10 years but got so fed up with the younger generation's lack of representation - and consequently interest - in the political sphere.

So, having just turned 30, I'm here to bridge the gap between teenage first-time voters, which incidentally should be lowered to 16, and the current goings on in Parliament.

So many people just won't vote for anything that currently exists, such is the level of disenchantment, that offering something genuinely fresh, like a party promoting Compassion as a topic to be taught on the curriculum, withdrawing from all military intervention, and - crucially - giving a voice to the pursuit of peace within said political sphere.

My personal political sway is such that I believe we should look at emulating the success of Portugal's decriminalisation of drugs, where drug-related deaths have fallen without any increase in overall public usage.

We should follow Finland's education model that sees the country consistently top international rankings for education systems - by following a path away from the evaluation-driven, centralised model that much of the Western world uses and worrying less, for example, about competing with countries like Singapore in mathematics, piling pressure on children because we need to be able to compete in the global economy.

Somebody else's love of money shouldn't be making your 10-year-old kid stressed over some SAT resits.

And the Swiss referendum system, their much-envied Direct Democracy, is something I would love to see here in Britain. That gives a maximum amount of self-determination to citizens, as well as adding a sense of stability to the political system.

I fully support all the campaign groups who have organised this evening and would love to be able to spend a bit more time in the future to get to know you and support in a tangible way wherever possible."

Let's see how that goes...

PS - as I was typing this I heard myself from the interview I did on Peak FM in Chesterfield. I was speaking quite low and calm, but it ended up sounding like a croaky OAP, as opposed to Vin Diesel, which is how I had imagined! Probably good to sound somewhat serious though, despite the juxtaposition between political subject matter and the tone of local radio... Probably.

Speaking of the word 'probably', I've heard people say: 

"There's no 'probably' about it, the people need to be better represented within government."

Too right. We're working it.

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