1983: The Winning of Yeovil

Interested in getting yourself or someone you know into parliament? Worried it might not be particularly easy given the current anti-politics mood? Think you might have it bad? Well try getting yourself elected with an activist base whose average age is deceased and with a party leader about to be arraigned at the Old Bailey for conspiracy to murder.

That was the state of play for Paddy Ashdown when in 1976 he drove into Yeovil in a clapped out Renault 5, his slightly bewildered family in tow. Sitting in a damp, draughty hall the former soldier, diplomat and spy somehow convinced the party membership to select him (his only opponent had pulled out because of the fog). The Liberal Party in Yeovil were polling behind the National Front, so it wasn’t like the smooth-talker from the Foreign Office could do any worse…

So started seven years of intensive campaigning, fuelled only by adrenaline, sheer bloodymindedness and home brew created from the Ashdown vegetable patch. This eBook tells the story of how Paddy did it, inspiring a new generation of activists in Yeovil, learning to print his own leaflets in a rickety old 1938 photo offset litho printer called Clarissa, pioneering new campaign techniques, working hard on behalf of his adopted community, slowly gaining their trust and their votes until he was able to burst through in 1983, capturing the seat from the Tories and writing another new chapter in his tumultuous career.

Taken from his acclaimed autobiography A Fortunate Life, the essay on how Paddy won Yeovil serves as a master-class in community campaigning, a must-read for any aspiring politician willing to roll up their sleeves and get stuck into a constituency. It is an inspirational story told in Paddy Ashdown’s inimitable style – warm, self-deprecatory, packed with great humour but with a serious message and an affection for his family, team of activists and constituents that shines through throughout.

Still hugely relevant today, Paddy’s guide to winning has helped many of the party’s MPs gain their seats in the past and will help many more in the future, especially with his new role as Liberal Democrat 2015 Campaign Co-ordinator. If you’re thinking of ever running, or if you’re merely curious about how one of the party’s most-loved figures got where he is today, 1983: The Winning of Yeovil is essential reading