A fight lost – but one worth fighting for
The general election focus naturally falls on the winners, those at the top of the pile, but what about those who have spent the past few weeks pounding the streets with little or no hope of success.
John Adams is one of those. The 64-year-old was standing for the Green Party in North Shropshire – up against an almost insurmountable challenge of beating the Conservative Owen Paterson, the man elected six times as the constituency's MP.
Let's not be coy, the task was all but impossible. In 2017 even if you totalled up all the votes for the three candidates opposing Mr Paterson they would still have been 11,685 short of overhauling the 33,642 who voted Conservative.
For Mr Adams it is his first foray into the world of politics, and there is certainly an argument that those who stand on a platform they fear has yet to gain sufficient traction with the public are the real conviction politicians.
Mr Adams, who worked at Harper Adams university from 1996 to 2018, said that despite his minimal prospects of success it was vital to stand up for the environmental cause.
He said: "The motivation was fine because I have obviously been a Green Party member for some years, and have had a particular interest in environmental issues.
"It seemed such an important moment in history, the motivation is that it has to be done. This is the moment for people to change the way they think and do things."
Despite that motivation, he said that the reality of campaigning in one of the safest seats in the country had been eye-opening.
He said: "When we first met they said they would consider it a success if we kept our deposit. I thought that was an unambitious target when I started but I see the reality now. It is so difficult to make a breakthrough in this constituency."
Asked about being a first time candidate Mr Adams said he had felt the responsibility of putting forward the platform, but that the simple disparity in the level of resources between parties makes a huge difference to the ability to promote policies.
He said: "I found it quite intimidating in a way because it is huge responsibility, but it is also very frustrating because the Green Party, with the way parties are funded, is very light on resources and it is a few dedicated volunteers who keep the message going and work to put that message across."
The disparity in resources is in evidence through the fact that Mr Adams had 15,000 leaflets printed – fewer than half the 33,642 who voted for Mr Paterson in 2017.
Despite that Mr Adams said that he had come across a growing awareness of the issues of climate change, and was pleased to see other parties adopting forms of Green Party policies.
He said: "We have had lots of people saying how much they support green policies but have not made that leap from there to voting for them. There are a good number that will vote I am sure that are on-side and aware of environmental issues and climate change."
He added: "There is a big benefit to standing as well, even if you can say we do not have electoral hope all the parties are trying to appear more green. The Labour Party has taken so many of our policies and adopted them, the Liberal Democrats too, they are all borrowing our clothes but really we need to benefit from that as a party."
Mr Adams also had a word of warning for future elections, saying that social media and online lies and misinformation had created huge problems for the electorate.
He said: "I think it is a scandal because it opens us all up to being completely manipulated by various politicians and their backers. I think there should have been a more stringent regulatory approach to it. It is like the wild west and if people do not know what to believe how can they vote in a responsible way."
