If you’d asked me a few years ago, whether I’d ever imagine myself standing as a MP then I’d have belly laughed. I’m a busy Consultant, a cancer specialist – a tough but rewarding job. It’s a privilege to work for the Health Service, but there isn’t a lot of spare time, particularly as I have a young family, a wife who is herself a GP, and a more than passing love of sport!
Yet, standing as a political candidate is exactly what I’ve felt compelled to do. And as I have roots in Oxfordshire, I decided to go the whole hog and stand against David Cameron, which was the right thing to do.
Campaigning has been a rollercoaster ride, to say the least. I’ve talked to people about the National Health Action Party in the streets. I’ve handed out leaflets. I was locked out of hustings in Witney, when David Cameron himself did his one and only Q&A with local people. And then I’ve found myself on the front page of national newspaper, The Guardian. I’ve stood in the pouring rain, I haven’t had enough sleep and driven hundreds of miles with and without power steering.
Election night was a surreal affair. Turning up with ID, being searched and sniffed (! by a police dog) and putting on a luminous wristband before entering into the sports centre. There, thousands of votes were verified, counted and scrutinised by volunteers, working through the night, amidst a flurry of paperclips, elastic bands and thimbles. It made me feel proud that we have democratic process in this country, and that we have safe and private ballots. The candidates and their supporters were allowed to wander and observe the whole counting process. The Tories were out in force, besuited, rosetted, shiny faced and confident. David Cameron put in an appearance at about 2am for a slow walk around the proceedings, handshakes and then disappeared to another part of the sports centre with his entourage.
It was a long night, underpinned by coffee, biscuits and a swift beer. Despite being someone who has to do night shifts and on-call, I felt pretty terrible at about 4am, when I wanted to lie down in an aisle and just sleep. I had to remind myself then that the giant Elmo muppet that I kept seeing was REAL and was just one of the other candidates dressed up. Cameron’s result was called at around 5.45am. We knew that he’d win, but I feel that I have achieved some important things during this campaign. I’ve raised the profile of what is happening to the NHS, and I think I have put a voice into the debate about the NHS in West Oxfordshire. I am so grateful to the more than 600 people who chose to vote for NHAP, and the NHA team in and around West Oxfordshire who helped the campaign in every way.
We have received many wonderful messages of support in the last few days. It has been an immense morale booster to know how much you care. We are pretty tired, but not demoralised and the fire for the fight for the NHS and for a decent society burns just as bright. We need it as we all face an immense challenge in the next 5 years.
We may not have won any seats, but we won many hearts and minds. Analysis shows that in terms of the average number of votes per seat contested, the NHA has done better than any party fighting its first General Election for well over 100 years. Even the first Labour candidates in the 1890s did not do as well as NHA in 2015!
One thing we knew before we started our very first campaign for the Eastleigh by election in February 2013 was the near impossible odds for a small party to have any success at the polls. Since then and especially during this general election campaign we have seen the extraordinary scope of the main parties’ machinery in action close up. We have also discovered how hard it is for the voice of evidence to be heard in debates and how dirty politics can be.
But the hardest thing of all was listening to people on the streets saying ‘I don’t vote’, ‘what’s the point, it changes nothing’, or worse ‘I don’t care’.
We have to change that.
If there is one thing that we are certain of it is that an NHS which is publicly owned, publicly provided, publicly accountable and cares for people on the basis of their clinical need, not their ability to pay is at the heart of a fair and just society. It acts as a beacon.We need to focus people’s attention on that, not on bogus stories of ‘unaffordability’ and ‘unsustainability’. The attacks on it will grow ever more intense during the next government.
We have had, for the last 5 years a government which does not care for the real values of the NHS, saying ‘free at the point of need’ is the only thing that counts, and anyone can provide the service.. During that time not only has the dismantling of the NHS been accelerated but also the vulnerable have shouldered the heaviest burden of the savage cuts to our public service budgets at both central and local government level. Inequality has grown. The richest 1% have grown richer whilst the poorest have been impoverished. NHS services have been reduced.
Now we are facing another 5 years. The Conservatives now believe they have a mandate to carry on the destruction of the welfare state.
So this is our manifesto commitment to you, our members and supporters. It’s the only one that matters. We won’t give up the fight.
With thanks and best wishes
Clive
Dr Clive Peedell 