About the author.
My name is George Forsyth. I am no longer a member of any political
party. I have successfully managed election committee rooms in local,
national and European elections. By successfully I mean that the candidates
got elected. In 1990 I was elected a member of a London Borough, a post
I held for four years.
I wrote this guide as a way of setting out a lot of information that
a lot people who have been involved in electoral politics will already
know, but most appear reluctant to share. It may be slightly out of
date because I haven't been active in politics for some years but the
principles are sound and haven't changed in many decades. I haven't
addressed the recent changes in the postal vote procedure for instance,
mainly because all the news around this involves allegation of electoral
fraud.
One of
the problems that I perceive in the UK at the moment is a lack of engagement
in the electoral process. Turnout in elections are dropping and a lot
of people are worried by this. People rail against politicians of all
kinds but mostly want someone else to do something about it. If we all
wait for someone else it'll never be done.
I was actively involved in politics from my mid 20s to my mid 30s and
during that time it taught me a lot. I learned that there are good and
bad people in all political parties but more good than bad. I learned
that there were some people who said what they believed even when it
wasn't popular and some that would say whatever anyone wanted to hear.
I learned that there is no great divide between the governed and the
governing and that most people, if honestly motivated, can make a contribution
to their communities.
I manage
some other sites on the web and have an unrelated full time job in IT.
I now spend my non-working time with my wife and children.
I would genuinely like to hear from people who found this site useful
but I would even more like to hear from anyone who found a mistake in
it or felt that there was something lacking. I intend to update this
site frequently. I can be contacted at contact@howtowinelections.co.uk
.
For those who feel they would like to ask me for some clarification
in anyway please read the contents of the 'Frequently
Asked Questions' page first as that is where I will list the questions
I have been asked, unless people request that I don't put their questions
online.
George Forsyth