One of the attractions of the Henley constituency has to be the picturesque villages, liberally sprinkled with equally picturesque pubs, so it was fun to finish my day there yesterday joining Lembit and Stephen Kearney on the "Shandy Run" - touring said establishments until they closed. Apparently it was Lembit who recruited Stephen to the party and they have been friends for 12 years.
As you may expect Lembit's high recognition rate meant he was instantly engaging with the punters, but what was more impressive was that nearly as many people recognised Stephen and were happy to talk about the issues he has been raising. For those of you wondering whether or not it is worth the trek to Henley I would say here is evidence of the undoubted impact the campaign is having - every little counts and there is no doubt the Tory vote is soft. Even those who confess to always having voted Tory, the very people you would expect to by buoyed up by a resurgent party, are not sure if they will support them.
There is no doubt that everywhere we went people will be chatting about "guess who was in the pub last night?" but more importantly will also be able to talk about Stephen and how impressive he is as a candidate.
So, let's get out there and rattle the Tory cage - we have a great chance to do it, but it is a case of all hands to the pump.
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